Rich kids 'R' us: a growing number of stores provide the very best for the toddler set.

A young father walks into Imagine That on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica with his toddler daughter, who quickly takes a seat at a hand-painted play table priced at $660.

Another dad is strolling his baby through the aisles with a nervous look. Every few seconds he kneels down to pry some bright, irresistible doodad out of her little fingers many of them imported and priced at over $30.

It's an everyday scene at about a half-dozen boutiques all of them on the Westside - where the elite of Hollywood and L.A. business society shop for the kid who has everything.

Tony enclaves like Brentwood, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills have become a breeding ground for shops that specialize in upscale, and ultra-pricey, children's furniture. toys and accessories.

And this being L.A., the status of shopping at one of these stores often becomes just as important as whatever item is actually purchased. Walk into a birthday party or baby shower with gifts wrapped from Imagine That, Room With a View, Little Folk Art, Lily Henry Zoe, Auntie Barbara's Kids or Auntie Barbara's Antiques, and you're set.

"This shop is so cute and has so much to choose from." said customer Heidi Gibb, after paying for some books and finger puppets at Lily Henry Zoe. She is shopping for the children of Peter Morton, co-founder of the Hard Rock Cafe.

The owners of these niche stores acknowledge that they cater to a mostly Hollywood clientele.

"We have a huge celebrity business," said one store owner. "But we're not in the business to sell only to Hollywood celebrities."

Maybe not. But there is an obvious marketing value in being identified as the shop where Mafia Shriver buys booties.

"The Hollywood business seems to bring a lot of other business to us," said Mitchell Salzman, owner of Little Folk Art, which features a large selection of high-end children's furniture and home accessories. Los Angeles magazine named it the best kid's store in the city in its 1997 "Best of L.A." list.

Such celebrity moms as Shriver. Meg Ryan and Kate Capshaw have been spotted at Lily Henry Zoe and Room With A View. Nicole Kidman and Michelle Pfeiffer have been known to drop by Little Folk Art and Imagine That.

For people like film executive Tracy Glaser. head of producer Jun Peters' film company Peters Entertainment and wife of actor Paul Michael Glaser, these stores are de rigeur when shopping for her daughter or the children of her friends.

"At (Lily Henry Zoe) you get things that are more one-of-a-kind - you're not going to see them anywhere else," she said. "There was a toy chest that I was lusting after, with a Russian fairytale painting."

Glaser said she and many of her friends register at these shops for showers.

"I know Wendy Finerman (co-producer of 'Forrest Gump') ... made up a baby list of the best pediatricians and the best place to find a nanny, and she listed these stores as the best places to shop," said Glaser.

That list became a hot commodity in the entertainment industry - so much so that Hollywood mums felt out of the loop if they didn't have a copy. The list was even recently featured in a celebrity magazine.

Room With A View, considered by many to be the most chic of the lot, also caters to an affluent adult clientele; its luxurious kids section is tucked away upstairs.

Along the staircase are collector's teddy bears that start at $175 and go up to $290.

The display of baby clothes and accessories includes a hand-painted doll bed priced at $234 and a baby's knit pink-poodle sweater ($158), with a matching knit cap for $50. A baby lamp with a hand-painted cow jumping over the moon is $222 and a straw newborn "Moses" basket is $405.

At Lily Henry Zoe in Brentwood, the ambiance is less luxurious and more playful.

On display are furniture items and home accessories, like a wood-cut "airplane" bed priced at $1,430. A barn-like "Silverado" writing desk is $1,177. An intricately stenciled tea table is priced at $725 and an oil-painted doll-house is $280.

For items like a crib and changing tables, prices range from $990 for a custom-made yellow and white crib with hand-painted stars and moons at Imagine That, to $2,400 for a custom-made changing table at Little Folk Art.

None of which, of course, is exactly a deal.

At Nationwide Baby Shop in Santa Monica, changing tables start at $99 to $219, a wooden crib runs between $149 to $500, and a plastic. stepping stool is $9.99.

Marny Maslon, owner of Lily Henry Zoe, acknowledges the high price tags, but insists that what you get for your money is a "higher quality" product that has "a richer look."

Indeed. Most items, from furniture to clothing, found in Maslon's store and the others are not your brightly colored, cotton-blend variety. Bibs and pillow-cases at the boutiques are made of velvet, and baby blankets are cashmere.

"I also have great things that are far less expensive," added Maslon. "I have people who come in here with a lot of different budgets."

Many of the stores tend to feature similar items, especially when it comes to furniture. The same weathered and textured finishes, hand painted and stenciled furniture and gift items can be found at a number of different stores, although most of the niche retailers insist they are different from their competitors.

Though none of the store owners would discuss sales figures, Salzman said Little Folk has annual revenues that are "certainly in the millions."

He said some clients can spend up to $50,000 for a series of children's rooms, including nurseries and additional spaces.

Moguls have flown Salzman's wife Susan to second homes in New York and other big cities to decorate their kids' rooms. The husband-and-wife team has even done set designs for Hollywood movies, like a children's bedroom in "Father of the Bride, Part II."

The Salzmans have their own furniture manufacturing plant in Santa Monica. They started out making furniture and accessories for Imagine That and Auntie Barbara's, but in 1990 they decided to cut out the middle man and open their own shop on Montana Avenue and 11th Street.

"We have a very sophisticated children's look," said Salzman. "Our look is very Hamptons, all our finishes are made to look textured and old."