19 minute read
News 10 Retailer Profile 30 & 31 Supplier Snapshot 40 & 41 Supplier Snapshot 56 & 57 New Products 58 The Baby Products Association
Hippychick heads to Poland with essential supplies
Hippychick is supporting an initiative to transport essential supplies to Poland for distribution at the Ukrainian borders.
Julia Minchin, owner and joint managing director of Hippychick, said: “With so many amazing efforts to help Ukrainians springing up all over the country, it’s really difficult to know which one to support. It’s also difficult to see any silver lining in these grim times but if there is one, it’s the extraordinary way in which the Western world has come together to support this humanitarian crisis.
“After some thought, we’ve decided in the first instance to support an initiative spearheaded by a Somerset lady called Meg Hawkyard who has organised the collection of essential supplies and is working in conjunction with her friend Faye, who is based on the ground in Krakow, and will supervise the distribution of items to those who need it most.
“One thing that Meg is struggling with is transport. This is where we can help, as we have at our disposal Hippychick vehicles which can accommodate up to 100sq m of supplies. My husband Jeremy [Hippychick joint managing director] has volunteered to drive the loaded van to Poland with others. Krakow is also a good destination for Hippychick as one of our suppliers (myHummy) is based there and has kindly offered to put them up before heading back to Somerset.
“With Meg’s contacts in Poland, she is entirely in tune with exactly what type of donations will be most useful to displaced families. These are largely medical supplies, and Meg has contacts for purchasing them at wholesale prices. If you would like to be part of this effort, please donate on her Go Fund Me page at https://www.gofundme.com/f/transport-aid-to-ukrainian-borders.”
www.hippychick.com
Toy & Edu China, Baby & Stroller China and Licensing China moved to May 2022
ABC Design welcomes new member to their UK team Rhys Wood joins as an Account Manager for the business and continues the family values of ABC Design Germany as the son of the UK Country Manager Fiona Suffield.
Rhys has joined the business full time after working on consumer shows and shop fits for the last 12 months and taking a career change from his previous job working for Yorkshire Water. As we all do we come into the Nursery trade and just want to stay. He is full of enthusiasm and is currently working his way around retailers getting to know everyone.
www.abc-design.de
The three Shenzhen based shows, Toy & Edu China, Baby & Stroller China and Licensing China will now take place from 5 – 7 May 2022.
The show dates have been pushed back from their original dates at the end of next month, in order to support pandemic containment efforts. The fairs will still take place at the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center.
Ms Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd commented: “As part of the effort to contain the spread of Covid-19, the local government has mobilised designated areas of the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center as a temporary resource and cross-border transportation facility, to assist with pandemic prevention efforts, with this arrangement expected to last for one month. During this time, the concerned areas of the venue will be enclosed and will only be reopened after thorough disinfection. Therefore, in order to align with the pandemic containment and prevention efforts and to safeguard the health and safety of fairgoers, the organisers have decided to delay the three shows until 5 – 7 May. We’d like to express our thanks to all participants for their continued understanding and support. And we very much look forward to hosting the fairs later in the year, when it is safe and possible to do so.”
Toy & Edu China, Baby & Stroller China and Licensing China are organised by Guangdong Toy Association, Guangzhou Li Tong Messe Frankfurt Co Ltd and Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd.
Triple the style with Snüz
Iconic sleep brand, Snüz, is thrilled to be expanding its furniture offering this year as it unveils the SnüzKot Skandi 3pc Nursery Furniture Set. A first for the brand, the once 2-piece set is now complete with the addition of the brand new SnüzWardrobe, designed to give the most stylish storage solution.
Posing a striking modern and minimalist style, the 3-piece set nails the ultimate on-trend scandi look. Coming in three colourways, Natural, Grey and White, with crafted curved edges and quality finishes, it is sure to be a welcome addition to any contemporary home.
Designed to last, the complete 3-piece set has been made using sustainably sourced FSC approved wood, without the use of MDF, chipboard or veneer.
Commenting on the launch of the SnüzKot Skandi 3pc Nursery Furniture Set, Chloe Scott, Product Designer said:
“We are thrilled to be launching the Wardrobe, allowing us to create a truly stunning 3-piece Furniture Set. The stylish set is perfect for those looking to invest in high quality, on trend furniture that will last for years to come.”
For trade enquiries, please email trade@snuz.co.uk or call 01789 734022.
The 2022 event will take place from 16th to 18th October 2022. Adrian Sneyd, show organiser, explains: “The Covid pandemic caused the 2021 show to move from March to October and was intended to be a temporary change. However, feedback from both exhibitors and visitors was overwhelmingly positive and we were asked by key industry players to consider October a permanent move. It appears that an autumn event best suits new product launches and is perfectly timed for retailers planning stock requirements for the following year.”
With the new October timing also comes a complete show refresh and new layout. Adrian continues: “The venue is planning to carry out some redevelopment works that will affect the halls we have used for the previous events so we have taken this opportunity to move the show into a new location within the Harrogate Convention Centre.
The new show footprint will be in the main HCC exhibition halls of A, B, C & M, and fed by two entrances either side of the Royal Hall in Ripon Road. We currently use these halls for Harrogate Christmas & Gift Fair that always sell out fast! The new halls offer better cross-hall interconnection and being all on one level it makes it easier for buyers to quickly move around the fair.”
Over 70% of 2021 exhibitors have already confirmed their participation in October 2022 and these will be given priority to choose their desired location within the new halls prior to new exhibitors.
Harrogate show moves permanently to October
Harrogate International Nursery Fair has announced the permanent move to an October show with dates confirmed until 2024.
Full details and prices can be found on the website at www.nurseryfair.com – or contact Adrian on 01902 880906 or email: adrian@nurseryfair.com
Rockit rocks it
at another award ceremony
Rockit the baby sleep company behind the multi award-winning portable baby rocker was crowned ‘International Business of the Year’ at the FSB Celebrating Small Business Awards, 3 years after it won its first award for export.
Rockit was launched in September 2017 and is now soothing babies to sleep and helping worn out parents all over the world. It has already won a number of accolades including the 2 Gold Junior Design Awards, Made for Mums Gold and the prestigious international A’ Design Award.
Dr. Nick Webb, the Rockit’s inventor said “Exporting our products from day one has been pivotal to the success of the business. We are now distributing to over 40 countries across 6 continents and it’s a real honour to be recognised as the International Business of the Year by the Federation of Small Businesses.”
www.rockitrocker.com
To help the people and children in Ukraine, BIBS has created two unique pacifiers in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, with all proceeds from sales being donated to UNICEF directly.
Over 1.5 million people have now been forced to leave their homes, and up to 7.5 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian aid. UNICEF provides support to children and families with medicine, warm clothes, clean water, protection, and psychosocial help.
All BIBS pacifiers are made of the best material on the market, and 100% free of harmful and endocrine-disrupting ingredients such as PVC and BPA. All pacifiers are designed at BIBS headquarters in Nordhavn, Denmark and then produced in the factory in Hillerød where the latest technology and energy-saving equipment is used on the production line.
www.Bibsworld.com
celebrate fifth anniversary!
Spice Girl Emma Bunton swapped the stage for the boardroom as this March marks the 5th birthday of Kit & Kin, the earth-friendly baby brand with purpose!
Speaking about five years of Kit & Kin, Emma said: “We are very excited to celebrate five years of Kit & Kin, looking back I am incredibly proud of all we’ve achieved so far. From the moment I met Chris (my fellow co-founder) it was clear we shared the same goal for creating a truly ethical family brand. Now five years later it’s amazing to see Kit & Kin thriving. Knowing that so many parents are choosing our products is a wonderful feeling.”
Emma continued: “I’m excited to see what the future holds for Kit & Kin – we worked out that if every one of the three billion nappies used in the UK every year was a Kit & Kin nappy, it would save more than 36,000 tonnes of carbon being released and lock in an additional 6.5million tonnes of carbon biomass through protected rainforest- now that’s a goal to aim for!”
Kit & Kin will be marking its 5th birthday with a month-long celebration throughout March, with their customers at the heart of their festivities. Customers will receive birthday presents including prizes, special offers and free gifts. Plus, Kit & Kin are inviting customers to earn double points with fun birthday themed missions in their eco parenting community the Kit & Kin Family.
www.kitandkin.com
iCandy
unveils the next generation of a true icon
The iCandy Peach has firmly established itself as one of the world’s leading pushchair icons, consistently setting the pushchair standard in terms of both functionality and style. It is a pushchair that is loved and trusted by parents around the world. The latest innovations to the iCandy Peach see the pushchair enter its 7th generation, unveiling functionality updates complimented by stunning new premium fabrics.
Launching this Spring, the iCandy Peach 7 will retail at £1,099, including the carrycot, seat unit, chassis, removable ‘Pip-Zip’ bag, car seat adaptors and elevator adaptors. Added extras include a stunning new Peach Luxury Rucksack Bag featuring integrated pushchair clips for added convenience and a super cosy Footmuff & Liner, both of which have been designed to coordinate effortlessly with the iCandy Peach 7 and can be purchased separately.
The iCandy Peach 7 will be launched in the following colours: Black Edition, Dark grey, Light grey, Truffle – 2 Tone grey and Olive Green.
www.icandyworld.com
Melissa & Doug
appoints new Sales Director for Northern Europe
Melissa & Doug has strengthened its international team based in Rickmansworth with the recruitment of Jeremy Robinson as sales director for the Northern Europe region.
Reporting to managing director international Francisco Anselmi, Jeremy will have responsibility for managing existing and new business within the key markets of the UK, DACH [D-Deutschland (Germany), A-Austria, CHConfœderatio Helvetica (Switzerland)] and the Nordics.
www.melissaanddoug.com
Clicks to Bricks
This month Nursery Today had the pleasure to question LilyCuddles co-owner Solomon Soyinka to find out how he and his partner Yetunde are growing their business and readying to open their first bricks and mortar store
Tell us a little about LilyCuddles – what was the inspiration behind launching your online baby products store?
We have been asked this question many times and the most cliché response would be that we started because we could not find baby products easily available when we needed it and we decided to start ours to make finding baby products at the desired price less of a hassle. Whilst, that is an integral part of our inspiration, our passion and love of kids and anything kids was the main factor. We were intrigued by having our own child and our experience throughout that journey.
We floated the idea of using our experience and approach during that first journey to support other prospective parents. To make the experience more inclusive and not exclusively to mums to be. That is how the idea of Lilycuddles was birthed. However, the name Lilycuddles was largely inspired by our six year old daughter, who, when she was a toddler, gave the best cuddles and was obsessed with the lily flower. When we sat down to discuss the name, it was very straight forward as having her was a big part of our inspiration to start our online business. How did you manage to establish yourselves online and bring attention to your website?
Getting lilycuddles noticed was not an easy task. We would say we are still working on it and continue to work on bringing attention to our brand. In our first few years, due to limited funds, a lot of our brand awareness programmes were via word of mouth, friends and family referral and DIY SEO. From 2019 onwards, when we both made the decision to fully focus on lilycuddles, a lot of effort went into google ads, shopping campaigns, social media campaigns and more word of mouth. Do you feel that perhaps you are treated differently by brands/ suppliers with regards to the products that you can currently offer to your customers as an online only retailer?
We would say yes, because some brands and suppliers will not work with you if you operate online only, which impacts the range of products we can stock. This has always been a challenge and knowing what we know about the industry now, it is a good way to protect the independents. With this being an incredibly emotive industry sector, how do you give your customers reassurance when placing orders online?
We are parents ourselves and currently are going through the journey as well! So, when customers come to us, what we try to do is to personalise their experience or journey with us. We always try to understand the customer and treat each customer differently based on their needs and experience. Since launching in 2016, what has been your largest achievement?
says, every little win forms part of the bigger win. However, we do agree that our biggest achievement to date would be to finally have a physical space to showcase our range of products and brands. This is because it has been the aim from the onset, but we have had challenges along the way. We had three potential spaces fall through, so going back to start our search again from scratch was never easy. Then Covid happened, which completely stalled our plan, but we are there finally. As a business, how have you grown over the years?
We started Lilycuddles in 2016 as a side project to test the waters and our ideas whilst we both continued with our individual jobs. However, we fully focused and invested our time in the brand towards the end of 2019. Since then, we have gone from strength to strength. We are on course to double our turnover from the previous financial year and we predict that we will continue to do so once we add the offline sales to our operations in the new financial year. You are about to make the transition from ‘clicks’ to ‘bricks’! Exciting times ahead for you – what was the deciding factor in the decision to open your new store?
As we alluded to earlier, our business plan from the onset has been to combine clicks and bricks as a business model. However, that plan was stalled along the way due to various reasons and challenges.
We believe operating online only does not fully provide parents with a total shopping experience. We want to be able to provide that help, support and guidance for parents-tobe in making the most important buying decisions of their parental journey and believe there is no better way to do so than to have a physical space to showcase and demonstrate all we have to offer; provide great service and offer our own knowledge product wise. Where will the store be located and what was the decision behind the location?
The showroom will be located in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. We are both from Northampton and have always had the desire to move back. We found that the area was not well served since Mothercare and Mamas and Papas closed their doors and with our knowledge of the area and the close connection we have with it, it was the easiest decision to make. What activity will you be running online to bring awareness to the new store prior to your official opening day?
The right level of awareness activity is crucial to our opening of the showroom, so we will be carrying out a lot of online marketing within the local area and nationally. Our website is also currently undergoing some changes that will reflect our transition from clicks to bricks. We will also be running a lot of activities on social media to create awareness of the showroom within the local area and national.
Have you experienced many challenges in the lead up to opening day and if so, how have you overcome these?
Opening day is getting closer and we have definitely had challenges - especially with contractors for the fit out. It has also been difficult to arrange visits with our desired brands due to everyone’s tight schedule. However, through our resilience and determination, we have managed to overcome the challenges, bring more of our desired brands on board and currently working with others. By the time we get to launch day, we believe most of our issues would have been ironed out to allow a smooth launch day. How will the new store operate alongside your already established online business?
We currently have one word we have been throwing round the team, which is “Seamless”. Our aim is to keep all our products, service and pricing uniform across both channels. The online operation and showroom operations will complement each other and customers who shop online will feel no difference to customers who shop offline. You currently operate your ‘Cuddleclub Rewards Programme’ on your website,
can you tell us a little more about this?
The CuddleClub Programme is our loyalty and rewards programme that we have designed for parents, parents to be and their friends and family to get more for their efforts. It is essentially our way of supporting our Cuddle Parents through their parental journey and buying experience. Rewarding them for their experience and loyalty and ensuring that every little support we can give goes a long way with helping to achieve their aim. It also allows our Cuddle parents to sound our trumpet by way of word of mouth to friends and families or via their social space and community. What can suppliers do to assist you to open smoothly and gain consumer confidence in your brand?
We are currently getting a lot of support from the brands we are already affiliated to and those yet to come on board. We have made new friends along the way, but we know we are babies within the industry and support from our suppliers in the form of awareness on their platforms to their core customers, training to our staff and opening day supports will go a long way. Naturally you will now run in-store demonstration of product. Do you feel this will strengthen your business by being able to speak to and guide your customers face to face?
The journey from conception to delivery is an experience. Lilycuddles intends to not only be a part of that experience, but a major one. We want to have a relationship with our Cuddle parents. Therefore, having the ability to showcase, not just our products, but our individual personality and the brand personality is crucial to our business operational goal. We set out to feel what our Cuddle parents feel, understand them, help guide and support their decision and experience through the journey. How will you manage your new floorspace? Will this be sectioned into areas for your customers, for example, wheels, furniture, feeding, etc.?
Our showroom space was designed by bluu.creations, a very young, talented and creative lady. You can see her portfolio at www.bluucreations. myportfolio.com
Working together with her, she has cleverly designed and sectioned the showroom space to allow us to showcase as many product categories as possible. The showroom will have a Travel section, Furniture, Feeding, Bath and Changing and a lounge/ cool off area for our customers. All areas have been created to easily identify with easy access to these areas of the showroom. Will you be looking at opening new accounts with suppliers and showcasing more product ranges?
Yes, this is and has been the aim since we made the decision to launch the showroom. We have done our research and we know what products potential cuddle parents in our area want. As such, we are actively speaking to brands to open accounts with them and will continue to do that, so we can have a wide range of products for our customers. Finally, you are active across a number of social media platforms. How important are these to the business?
Social media is essential for any business operation in the current commerce climate. We know that our success will be tied to how active we are in the social sphere and a lot of effort is currently being put into this to make all our social platform activities consistent and regular.
