Mothercare. Another one bites the dust.

[TheQueef]

Another 2500 job losses.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50287153

Sad news.
The high street is amassing job losses not unlike the mining and steel industries did.
We need to start trying to counter the unemployment now.

I’m sorry for the job losses but it’s not surprising.

Favourite memory? I was told to stop breast feeding by a member of staff. Although where you can get prem baby clothes in a hurry I’ve no idea.

@ MrsPear - John Lewis have a premie / tiny baby stock. As do most supermarkets.

@MrsPear Boots now stock premie clothing in larger stores within (I think) a four mile radius of neonatal units.

@GrumpyHoonMain I had the same. Saw a pram online that didn't say it was online only. Got to the shop (about half an hour away) and they said it was online only and they'd order it in. Then couldn't because it was out of stock (didn't say that online either) and didn't know when they'd get it back in.

Went to John Lewis and they had it on display in 3 different colours. No brainer.

Very sad indeed I have bought big purchases from them for both my DC cot beds mattresses car seat etc but I am also not surprised in that sometimes stuff they do sell is rather expensive compared to online deals for the exact same product.

I think a lot of retail now can no longer keep up with the demand and convenience that online shopping offers to consumers, not only that but a majority of household incomes are getting tighter so people are now shopping round for the best deals instead of just accepting the first price available to them.

I don't think they will sadly be the last big known name to be closing down it's stores there will be more to come and instead what the high street will be left with is coffee shops and charity shops 😞

I had to stop shopping there because every time I went there, they didn't have what I was looking for/sizes were out of stock etc. The two stores I visited were just so uncared for. They were understaffed and not particularly clean.

It really had changed from the treasured Mothercare of 20+ years ago.

Oh and someone bought me a new baby teddy gift set from mothercare and this pastel blue teddy bear arrived (directly from mothercare) looking as though it had been rubbed on the wheels of a car. It was so ridiculously dirty that i couldn't believe they'd sent it out.

We have recently spent over £1000 with them, but some of the products arrived damaged which is not good enough especially when you're a hormonal pregnant lady!

Apart from the issues, I've enjoyed going in there and picking out my bits and the staff have been great so it is such a shame.

I’ll miss little bird by Jools.

Really liked the colours on them - different to anything you can get elsewhere.

And the fitted my DCs car seats While U Wait. They were Isofix - which should be easy - but really isnt’t with an 8 month bump.

That part was nice.

It felt like a rite of passage going in to get the first bits for ds1. The first outfit we bought him and his first teddy were from Mothercare, also first packet of nappes, muslins, baby bedding etc. Even then though (early 2000s), we shopped around for the best deal and bought the big ticket items elsewhere.

With ds2 I don't think we went to Mothercare at all - most stuff was secondhand or bought online.

Thanks so much (and @TheQueef we did enjoy your wall-to-wall tits nostalgia)

Unsurprising. I have four DC aged between one and nine, the only Mothercare clothing range I have ever loved and bought is the Jools Oliver one. I wouldn’t buy anything else from there really, it’s all completely overpriced.

I'm not surprised to be honest, I haven't bothered shopping in Mothercare for years, I always used to go there for DS's clothes and bits then when DD was born it seemed to go sharply downhill.

I remember trying to find a smart pair of trousers in there for DS (5) and there being nothing even vaguely suitable, not even school trousers. Loads of pretty, sparkly party dresses for 5 year old girls but nothing for a boy.

When you have a better selection of kids clothes in a small Asda with a 4 aisle clothes section than you do in a shop supposedly dedicated to children... there is something wrong.

Thanks Rowan I thought the beeb would appreciate it

I bought ds3 pram out of there it’s great very good price and so easy to push. What was difficult though was trying to get a staff member who knew about car seats and listened to my needs. I spent an hour with an assistant trying seats I told her would not fit and did not meet my needs for ds2 🙈. I went elsewhere to buy babies seat as they listened, checked my car, asked how many other kids etc in had in the car and sold me a great seat. It cost £350 but it wasn’t about the money for me but my kids safety and comfort.

The High Street shops are their own worst enemy - you go in and half the range is "available on our website". We bought a cheap stroller from Mothercare for grandparents to use - and it had to be delivered - we couldn't buy it on the day...

Will miss the Clerk's kids that's within our local Mothercare as it was always my fail safe for not spending hours queuing when DC1 inconveniently grew out of her shoes at peak school shoe shopping time!

I went into their Westfield store in Shepherd's Bush ready to buy a Moses basket from them having looked online. They had hardly anything in stock, and what they did have looked like it had been sat on for a week, completely crushed and the hoods wouldn't stay up. Staff were totally unhelpful and couldn't answer any questions. Went next door to Mamas and Papas and bought a much better one there! So no, unfortunately I am not surprised either.

Favourite Mothercare memory?

I took out a Baby Plan where you order your items, pay it off at your leisure over several months, and then they deliver it on a date if your choice. I had a late miscarriage (17wks) and tried to cancel it and get a refund. Told over the phone you can only cancel in store. Trekked to the store, two other DC in tow. Member if staff on the floor told me it could only be cancelled at the till. Had to queue at the till then when I got to the front and told a member of staff I needed to cancel my plan. They asked why I was cancelling and I said I didn't need it anymore. But why didn't I need it? So I had to explain why to a sales assistant at the till of a baby shop in front of a queue full of customers some of whom were heavily pregnant or had little babies with them. I'm not sure at which point it was I started crying but they cancelled the plan and gave me my refund less an admin fee to cover the cancellation charge

Happy times.

For a shop that existed to make parents lives easier and provide all the products they need, they didn't half treat those parents like a bit of an inconvenience.

@SkyPaul - you should probably be speaking to MNHQ rather than posting on the boards.

My first baby was born rather unexpectedly early and Mothercare was the first place we took him on our journey home! We didn’t have anything ready and they were lovely- they gave us some free Moses basket fitted sheets and got me a glass of water and a comfy seat to sit in when it all got a bit much! There is a photo of me sitting there amongst the demonstration prams; I still have my pyjamas on and am wearing my hospital bracelet. I am sorry to see them go, they were v kind to me when I was feeling completely overwhelmed!

Shops can survive if they HAVE STUFF IN STOCK! I never bother trying to go shopping anymore as you go in and ask for something and they tell you it's only available online. Well what's the point of them then? The likes of IKEA are still rammed because they actually have the things there. I want to see what I am buying and actually hate shopping online.

Very sad news, another end of an era, my local Mothercare is bright clean and well laid out. I don't think they are competitively priced on big ticket items, people browse and try then buy cheaper online, I did.like their clothing range, I prefered it to supermarket ranges but my DC have outgrown it now.
When I had my first DC 20 years ago they were the only place on the high street that offered a private quiet place to breast feed. I feel for the staff, very bad news for them

Hello again

In the name of fairness, given that we'd already highlighted the BBC's request, we're going to re-up the request from Sky that was posted earlier (although thank you to the users who pointed out our usual procedure on these things - quite right in principle)

So if you're a Mothercare shopper, or have been in the past, or have never shopped there [I think that's everyone in the world?] and are happy to talk about your experiences or where you might shop instead now that Mothercare is no more, please contact Sky's business news editor Paul Kelso directly on [email protected]

Thanks (and will try to keep the journo requests on this thread to a minimum from now on, apologies)