feature JONATHAN FEINGOLD
Greece’s Baby Gear M Europe’s Emotional N From strong family values to emotionally driven purchasing decisions, Greece’s nursery market offers a fascinating contrast to many Northern European territories. In this insightful feature, Jonathan Feingold explores how culture, trust, and multi-generational influence continue to shape buying behaviour across the country’s baby gear sector. Drawing on first-hand experience and conversations with retailers and families alike, he examines why specialist retail remains so important, how premium brands continue to thrive despite economic pressures, and why Greece remains one of Europe’s most distinctive and resilient nursery markets.
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here are some markets you analyse from spreadsheets, data and retail reports. Greece is not one of them. Greece has to be experienced. For me, that experience is deeply personal. I regularly spend summertime on Paros, an island which, once visited, tends to capture people permanently. Beautiful beaches, extraordinary food, dramatic scenery, ancient history, and a pace of life that reminds you how modern Europe often moves too fast. I admit freely to some very strong personal bias. Island life in Greece during the summer is something rather special. Yet beyond the postcard image lies one of Europe’s most fascinating nursery markets. Regular visits have given me the opportunity to observe the Greek baby industry beyond the tourist lens, speaking with retailers, distributors and families themselves. What emerges is a market built not simply on commerce, but on emotion, family structure, trust and cultural identity.
A Small Market with Big Emotional Spending
I always begin market analysis with demographics because numbers provide perspective. Greece has a population of around 10 million people and approximately 50
70,000 births annually, barely 10% of UK birth levels. Unlike Britain, where population growth remains significant, Greece faces ongoing demographic decline, with the population reducing year after year. On paper, that should create a weak nursery market. In reality, the opposite often occurs. The reason is simple: in Greece, children sit at the absolute centre of family life. Multi-generational households remain influential and grandparents, “yiayia and pappou”, frequently play major roles not only in childcare, but also in purchasing decisions. This creates a market where families often spend disproportionately highly on baby products relative to official economic indicators. Greeks may negotiate aggressively on many things in life, but when it comes to babies and children, quality and safety matter enormously. Parents and grandparents want the very best they can afford, and often slightly beyond it.
The High-Touch Market
What immediately differentiates Greece from many Northern European nursery markets is that this remains a deeply physical retail environment. This is a touch-not-click country. Parents do not simply click and buy a travel system online because an
influencer recommended it. Is that a “hurray” I hear? They want to touch the fabrics, run their fingers over them, fold the chassis, test the suspension for those dodgy roads, assess the finish quality, and physically manoeuvre the stroller. In Greece, this matters even more due to the realities of the local environment. Bumpy, narrower pavements, uneven streets, steep island terrain and apartment living all influence purchasing behaviour. The stroller “test drive” remains very real and an absolute must. Retailers repeatedly emphasised that advice, trust and in-person demonstration remain critical components of the sales process, especially for first-time parents. This is still a market where the shop floor closes the deal.
Physical Retail Still Dominates
Despite the global rise of e-commerce, Greece remains overwhelmingly specialist retail-led in categories such as: • Strollers • Travel systems • Car seats • Nursery furniture Independent retailers and specialist chains continue to dominate because they provide what pure online retail struggles to replicate: reassurance. Parents want guidance. Grandparents
want confidence. Families want to physically inspect expensive purchases before committing. Large destination-style baby stores continue to perform strongly, with key players including: • Koudounistra • LETO Baby Stores • Kiddo Athens Megastore • IroKids • The Baby City Alongside these sit long-established independents and regional specialists, many of which have built customer loyalty over decades.
Online Growth, But Not an Amazon Market
Online sales are certainly growing, particularly in consumables, entry-level products and price-driven categories. However, Greece has not evolved into a fully Amazon-led nursery market in the same way as the UK or USA. Amazon operates largely through German and Italian order fulfilment into Greece rather than through a highly localised next-day infrastructure. That distinction matters. Delivery expectations, customer habits and buying behaviour remain different. Instead, the dominant digital influence comes from Skroutz.gr, Greece’s enormously powerful price-comparison and marketplace platform. Skroutz has fundamentally
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JonathanFeinGold May.indd 1
11/05/2026 16:52