When the economy took a turn for the worse, and then got worse still, Amy Routh nearly gave up on plans to turn a daydream into reality and open her own business.

But then she reflected on when she was Amy Cook, an 18-year-old who took off from her Indiana home for New York City with a lot of dreams and very little money in her pocket, $200 to be exact.

That turned out all right; she found work in the children's wear industry before heeding the siren call of the Midwest four years later and relocating to Columbus, where she was most recently a designer for Lane Bryant.

Still, the timing seemed "awful," Routh said. In spite of hours and hours of research over the course of nearly a year, after the economy bottomed out she considered giving up.

But, what the heck?

"I decided to go for it," she said.

She and husband Adam are opening Lottie Da at 4705 N. High St.

Amy Routh calls it a "design boutique," but it's aimed for a very specific demographic. Not to mention a very small one.

Lottie Da carries products for babies, from birth up to about 3.

Adam and Amy Routh have a daughter, Charlotte Adeline, who at about 18 months is right in the middle of that target audience and partial inspiration for the play-on-words name of the new business.

A "soft opening" is planned for Lottie Da at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, Amy Routh said.

"I've always had an interest in the business side of it," she said of the clothing industry in general and children's wear in particular.

Lottie Da is aimed at "modern parents with a sense of style" who want something a little out of the ordinary in the way of clothing and accessories for their infants and toddlers, she said.

"The goal was eclectic," she said. "I just want a different kind of store. I just think to myself, 'What would I want to buy?' "

Some of the products Routh carries are manufactured while others are handmade to her own designs and those of other designers. These include bibs, blankets, diaper bags and more, all of it intended to be "functional with flair," Routh said.

All of it is to be arranged in themed "mini-lifestyle areas," such as eat, sleep, play, go (meaning travel, not that other "go" babies do) and splash for a line of bathing suits.

Routh has resided in Columbus for a dozen years, the last three in Clintonville, so she lives close to where she will be working.

"It is, I think, perfect for a shop like this," she said. "I think it's the right time and the right place."

Routh said she thinks "reasonable pricing" for the items that modern parents might want for their little ones will help bring in customers.

"I had to just go for it, and I'm really glad I did," she said. "The response I'm getting is overwhelming."