The Pregnancy 'n' Baby shop

[babyella]

Hello Gold Coasters :wave:

we are opening a Pregnancy and baby shop on the Gold Coast, with our main focus being on embracing your pregnancy!!!!

I would like to ask Gold Coast mum's if there is anything they would really like to see in a shop, anything that mabey made your pregnancy more enjoyable or something that was hard to come across. We will also be focusing on birth and newborns.

We would like to offer a service of being able to chat to a Mid Wife or Doula on certain days of the week.

If there's any other service or product you would like to see please post.

Thank You
Jess:reindeer:

[Jenko]

Great Idea! Hmm lets see.... I really wanted to get some maternity singlets, but I found them quite hard to find. I only found the expensive ones online, and I wasn't prepared to pay out the $$$ without at least trying it on.

Reasonably priced maternity clothes. I just can't justify paying too much for maternity clothing. Of course some brands are more expensive, but I found Ripe was a middle of the range brand.

Belly bands (stretchy pieces of fabric that go around your waist), same again...only found them online (although I did see them in a Kmart catalogue the other day)

Funky baby bags and nappy wallets...brands like OiOi, not many shops stock these.

Nursing bracelets...the ones where you notch the time and breast that you last fed from.

These are just a few of the items I can think of that weren't readily available elsewhere...I will see what else I can come up with.

Good Luck with it all. Let us know when it opens up. :D

[Toffee apple]

not sure if this is what you are after .... but i found our baby shop recomended a fantasic guy to come to our house & install our carseat, not that it really helps your shop as such , but we found it a great service:thumbsup: .
best of luck with your new store.:wizard:

[Freya]

What about selling MCN's?

[HugsAndKisses]

i would DEFINATELY travel the half hour it would take us to the gold coast if you sold AFFORDABLE maternity wear but still of good quality....

every maternity shop i have been in were charging $40 for a singlet type top....:no:

and being a parent and pregnant i cannot afford that...tops should be around $20 in my opinion and even the maternity skirts and pants ive seen are in the $100 range....there is no way i can afford that its just too much to pay i think...so yeah price is alot to me...hope that helps and i wish you all the best with your store:smiliedance:

[sandralee]

* a toilet! (SO awesome to see these in baby stores, & the customers won't have to leave to find one)
*removable stickers/transfers for nursery walls (I ended up getting mine online, after seeing them in only one decorator place.. where they didn't have much variety)
*painted and plain wooden letters that you hang on nursery walls - have only ever seen them in spotlight, but not the painted ones as an option. Again, you have to order those online - unless you want the really small ones.
*'anti-blockhead' pillows - have only seen them on one website so far/can't find one in any bab store
*pillow cases for those maternity/body pillows LOL - it took me a while to hunt them down in a store, eventually found them at spotlight
:thumbsup: Best of wishes for your new store!! xx

[k&k]

Hi Jess,

Where abouts are you opening your shop?

I had to buy night feeding bras on line, as I couldn't find them in the shops. I didn't want to wear normal maternity bras to bed and found great night feeding bras on line (they were so comfy and easy for quick feeds). It took about 6 weeks to get them as they came from the USA, it would be great to be able to buy them in a shop.

Good luck with the shop, it's a great idea.

Karen

[Rachael]

Goodluck with the shop :)

As Karen mentioned above, whereabouts is it going to be? If you can't say in your post feel free to PM me please.

Toilet would be a big plus :thumbsup:

Affordable maternity clothes, try and stick to a range of $20-$50.

Pregnancy magazines. Gift vouchers.

A few comfy chairs, I remember being in my third trimester and no maternity shop had a comfy chair :thumbsdown: to rest in, just made me leave quicker with less purchases.

As well as your current idea of a midwife and doula day maybe a massage therapist day??

Secure play area for kids/toddlers.

Baby change room.

DVDs on pregnancy, birth etc

When are you opening? Maybe have a opening day special and see if Hilary will advertise it on bubhub for you or maybe the gold coast ladies will support it and come for a peek.

Best of luck :hugs:


Edit: Just thought of a great idea, well I think it is lol. Have a section of your store for 2nd hand maternity items and buy maternity clothes from people who come into the store but don't give cash give store credit or voucher or something along those lines.
I think that would take off and lets face it most maternity clothes don't get worn much so will appeal to a lot of mums.

[my2angels.0306]

all the best with ur new buisness, hope it all goes well for u:) :thumbsup:

[princesslover18]

We are not on the Gold Coast but in South Brisbane.

My feedback from doing the baby shopping recently would be the lack of knowledge in baby stores in general.

Every baby accessory seems to come in 10 different brands and price ranges. I know one store cannot stock every brand available but it would be nice to talk to a shop assistant who knows what brands they stock and also knows of other products on the market to assist in decision making. I found the only information source was the internet when we were going through this....

Hard to find products:

Bumbo seat
Pregnancy pillow (decent quality)
Belly bands
Tetra range (bed and head cradle)
Fred Bare clothes (under size 1)
Baby Havianas

I hope this helps. Let us know when it is open as we will come down.

[pooks]

so many great ideas....
i'm loving the toilet idea
baby havianas----have not been able to find them
also LOVING the "used maternity" clothes idea.... atleast then if you purchase new maternity clothes you know there is somewhere where you can take them back when your finished with them----store credit/exchange---great idea!!
my friend is currently looking for a pvc/plastic cover to go along the side of the cot to stop getting teeth marks from bub chewing on the cot---no idea what they're called.
midwife/doula great idea, what about baby clinic, to get bubs weighed...i know the one i go to you can wait up to 2 hours to get in to see her...
good luck with it all sounds like a great idea.... try to let us know about opening day... I know a few mummas who would love to come..... even if you have to PM me!!
all the best:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Noah_and_Elijah]

Baby Havianas

You get these from City Beach and the likes.

[pooks]

ive checked 4 city beaches and no good.
i have heard the australia fair one has them... do u know which one does??

[Noah_and_Elijah]

I brought one pair from City Beach at Carindale, another pair from City Beach in the Queen Street Mall and the third pair were a gift from a fellow bubhubber! :yes:

[Jenko]

ive checked 4 city beaches and no good.
i have heard the australia fair one has them... do u know which one does??

City Beach at Pacific Fair also has them :thumbsup:

[lil' starlette]

i would like to see edgy baby clothes! Like with the funny slogans and stuff.

[babyella]

Thank you all so mcuh for your replies:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

We will be opening early 2008:smiliedance:

i will be posting just after christmas to let you all know where the shop location is and what products and services we will offer:babydust2: (if that's ok with bubhub)

I'm reasearching all your ideas to see which ones we can use, there's lots of great ideas!! so please KEEP POSTING!!!!

Thanks
Jess