retail

THE BABY COT SHOP

Made in

Chelsea This month Nursery Today had the pleasure to question Toks Aruoture, owner of The Baby Cot Shop, to find out more on the inspiration of their store and the service they offer and how they have driven their business during the Covid-19 pandemic. We are seeing a lot of Bouc le Can you tell us a little about The You offer luxury nursery items, fab ric s, an d cre at ing a co sy Baby Cot Shop and the inspiration does this limit your audience? nu rsery us ing te dd y be ar -l ike I wouldn’t say we limit our audience. We provide behind opening your doors? a product and service to expectant parents who At The Baby Cot Shop, we help expectant fab ric s is gro w ing . We love struggle to find premium quality furniture tailored parents to create unforgettable nurseries for th is trend because it to their style- which is exclusive and bespoke. In parents who are looking for something a bit intro duces w arm acc ents to addition, there is something for all mums at The special. We pride ourselves on our handcrafted Baby Cot Shop; whether it’s a unique decorative furniture, accessories and bed linens in designs th e nu rsery roo m piece or advice and inspiration for their nursery. to delight. Our journey started in the United States, where I became acquainted with high-end, beautifully crafted furniture for babies and children. We had emigrated from England, and in the process, I purchased a baby furniture boutique; I then merged my interior design background with the sale of beautiful furniture and became a specialist in interiors for little ones. I lost the company in the 2008 recession and moved back to England to weather the stormarriving not only empty-handed but also pregnant with son number four. Unable to sit still and wait for this Tsunami to blow over, I studied the UK market and found there was nothing remotely close to what we had in the States. Armed with my knowledge of craftsmanship, and a determination to bring a major change to the nursery furniture industry, I researched options on the continent and curated a selection of furniture, linens and accessories. The Baby Cot Shop was launched online initially as Punkin Patch Interiors before rebranding in 2012. Five years later we opened our first location on the King’s Road in Chelsea, London.

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You were extremely active during the lockdown period, did you see an increase in traffic to your website? There was a significant increase in online orders. Our shop was closed from March to June, so clients who would typically come in to shop for their nursery took the online route instead. Now because our products are mostly bespoke, we helped parents who required a personal service by sending samples to them instead. That way, they were able to make their choices in the comfort of their homes. We have become known as the bespoke baby furniture company, and our clients tend to expect a bit more than the standard ‘add to cart and check out’ method of shopping. We help match colour match finishes, choose fabrics and decide on wallpaper so while we usually do that in our showroom, during lockdown we engaged the services of courier companies more than ever.

Do you feel that influencers and bloggers assist in spreading awareness of nursery products for new parents?

I believe they do. We have had parents show up with photos from Instagram and say they want a particular influencer’s nursery room. Also, bloggers and influencers are particularly good at spreading the word about smaller, little known companies who don’t have the budget to compete with the high-street brands.

How important is social media to your business? Very. Visuals play a significant part in the decision making of buyers. Our products and design service can be judged to an extent by pictures, and while images don’t tell the whole story, they can at least get the clients through the doors to see for themselves. We use Social