You have to wonder what Karen Adams and Andrea Edmunds were thinking when they founded Richmond-based PoshTots, a luxury children’s furnishing business that operates solely on the Web. After all, Adams and Edmunds launched their business in November 2000, just months before e-commerce sites such as Amazon.com, eToys and Pets.com announced big layoffs or shut down completely.

Confident that they had discovered a niche market, they continued with their business plan — locating and selling hard-to-find children’s furniture items online for busy parents. Now, just a few months later, the company is on track to break even, Edmunds says.

PoshTots’ prices, marked up about 30 to 75 percent, help explain why the company has done so well. The company receives a commission (percentages vary) from each sale. "Everything’s custom made. It’s very expensive," Edmunds says matter-of-factly.

Parents don’t typically come to PoshTots and order just one thing. More often than not, they’re interested in designing an entire room. For those customers, PoshTots has an interior designer on staff who can help. If you want a bunny-themed room for your child, you can purchase the carrot-shaped dresser for $3,850. Of course, that’s one item. If you opt for everything else under the bunny theme — including a $1,300 toy chest and a $1,400 crib, not to mention accessories — the entire room can run into tens of thousands of dollars. "The furnishings we have on the site aren’t easily accessible. There’s no where else that you can find them in one place," Edmunds says, adding that it took her and Adams more than a year to locate the artisans — who come from all over the world — and bring them on-board.

"We aren’t trying to beat the lowest price," Edmunds says. "Instead, we’re guaranteeing the best quality of furniture. We aren’t a production line. We recognize that some people want things that are different. And they’ll spend a lot of money to get it."