Mothercare

[KinderGirl]

What shops are now left for new mums as mothercare is going under & now mamas & papas is closing stores.

Personally I have never shopped at M&P always mothercare. Where are you going to go?

Plus it’s so sad this has happened right before Xmas, it’s always sad/stressful losing jobs but right before Xmas pulls on my heart strings

Nutmeg at Morrisons do good Tiny Baby things.

Our mothercare in a local retail park was big but always tasty and they employed very few knowledgable staff, it's nice to see buggies and car seats in real life before buying but they couldn't answer any questions we had about them. It didn't feel like you were going to experts in their field.
I think their prices were high, we had a babies R Us near us too and they were always good and substantially cheaper than Mothercare.
I agree it's a shame there's so very little to choose from now.

Precious little ones is still available and has a shop in Lincolnshire.

I think it's sad. I got my pram, highchair, the odd pack of sleepsuits and the odd item of clothing from Mothercare. I liked the online sales too. My daughter had a cost and boots from there one year. I went on to have a scan at the baby bond clinic with my second baby and got a pram bundle from precious little ones with him.

Its just sad like Woolworths and toys r us. These companies can't survive now the likes of Asda and Tesco's sell baby clothes at a fraction on the price. I would of loved to of kitted my kids out at mothercare and would of been a loyal customer but unfortunately I had to be realistic with what I could afford. They charge alot of money for cot bedding and nursery furniture. They even charge a crazy price for a pack of bibs. We are not going to pay £7 for three when we can get 4 at Asda for £3

If you want to go into a store and look their is a kiddicare still I think? There is a precious littles ones shop. I guess towns will have independent baby stores. Boots sometimes have a range

Online you have Amazon
Asda
Boots
T k maxx
Precious little ones
Superdrug

I think it's such a shame. It is the shop to go in with a bump. It's lovely seeing all the pregnant parents in there planning their new arrivals. It's a shame that it will no longer be apart of the experience. But I guess they needed to make the clothes etc more affordable and they couldn't

Does anyone know when they are actually closing? I had an email today marketing their closing down sale so have made an order but would love to go in store to make sure I don't miss anything.

I agree with some of the above, some of it is pricey but it's so useful to physically go and look and has a much bigger selection than John Lewis/supermarkets

The extra few £ being charged for pushchairs etc was allowing you the experience of seeing and testing them in the shop. I went intending to buy a certain pushchair but ended up preferring another (which I then bought secondhand) as I hated the folding mechanism of the first one. No-one is really prepared to pay for that any more.

I don't think JL has as much choice tbh, at least not in-store. Between M&P and Mothercare you had a good selection of prams, car seats and maternity wear to actually see for yourself.

I found the customer service absolutely dire! And I know a lot of other people do as well, so I'm surprised people saying it was good on here.

Last time we bought something from them, my husband queued for half an hour to pick up something from 'click and collect', the 'convenient' way to shop. Then we got our package, waited til a few weeks before the baby was born ((maybe 6 weeks after we'd bought it) opened it, tried to use it, only to find they'd given us the wrong size ai it didn't work (it was something to be used with / as a part of something else) - the size was correct on all the paperwork but they had physically given us the wrong item.

My husband went back to the shop, they were in the wrong under the consumer protection act and I'd printed out the relevant bits for him, but they refused to change it for ages as it was outside the 28 days and had been opened. Irrelevant under the law. Eventually they changed it. Hours of our time wasted to get a simple product.

They also sold us a car seat that when we got home and mentioned to a friend, they told us that these seats had been recalled and banned by other retailers for failing recent safety tests. We queried it with mothercare and they said 'oh yeah, you can have a refund if you want'...but they were still selling car seats they KNOW are unsafe! I think that's pretty disgusting

I've got friends who have experienced similar eg sizes in multi packs of baby grows all different and they didnt want to give money back etc.

I've met friends in the cafe there as well and somehow took an absolute age to get served

At one point when we had an issue I considered posting on their facebook page (I didnt as got it resolved) and was surprised at the numbers and numbers of complaints on there about basic things like being delivered the wrong thing etc. This was a couple of years ago and the errors were so basic and numerous, I thought things might have been going wrong then

I dont blame the individual staff who were always friendly etc more the shop policies and management.

John Lewis - everything baby related
Ikea - baby furniture
M&S - baby gros / blankets
Debenhams - baby grows / blankets / furniture / proper clothes
Winstanleys Pram World - pushchairs / car seats. Local stores up north often do clothes too. John Lewis will price match these guys as they aren’t an online store.
Mamas and Papas - the online service is still open and it’s far, far more trustworthy than Amazon or Ebay or the other online retailers.
Joules - they have sections in John Lewis and some places also have stores. Really good for clothes and accessories during sales.
Smyths - some stores sell car seats / moses baskets and clothes
Supermarkets - can get clothes / basic everyday stuff. Just be careful. They aren’t always cheaper or better - for example John Lewis’ often sells better quality moses baskets with stands / changing mats / baths / bottles etc than Asda or Tesco at a cheaper price.
Boots - wait for a sale and you probably won’t find cheaper everyday baby clothes / day to day shopping. Cheaper than supermarkets for baby vitamins too
Costco - The best for nappies, wipes, sudocrem etc.

What's happening with ELC? Their toys were brilliant. I miss Happyland now DDs are older.
Little Bird clothing was amazing.

I was not impressed with Mothercare when I needed an emergency Car seat when DD2s broke. She was 13 months but 8kg. Mothercare fitting person tried to insist that a toddler seat would be fine. I was after the Joie stages but the assistant couldn't fit it.
Went to Halfords... Their car seat fitter appeared to be a teenage boy... But quickly showed he knew his stuff (and agreed that the tiny terror trying to run across the store did indeed need a rear facing seat despite being over a year old as she was too small for a toddler one)

It’s a shame it’s going, I really feel for the staff, especially at this time of year. I hope they will find new jobs quickly. It’s such a shame that their business model was unsustainable, they were great as a showroom but you could get pretty much everything cheaper online and new parents usually can’t afford to pay the little bit extra for the in store experience.

I’d go at least once a month but I must have only ever bought 4 or 5 things from there, and then only in the sale.

John Lewis is the only place I buy full priced children’s clothes because I love them, they seem to be designed so they can be worn for ages longer than other places, dd age 3 has had several bits from there that she’s been wearing from 18 months and still fit at 3. I’ll get stuff from Joules in the sale or their outlet and everything else comes from supermarkets or Amazon, yes you can’t try things out when you buy online but you can return things if you don’t like them when they arrive so 🤷‍♀️

@Aroundtheworldin80moves I think The Entertainer bought ELC earlier this year.

Mothercare will always be part of my life. When we were trying to conceive, for years, I had to cross the street so I didn't have to walk past the shop. When we adopted our children and I could finally shop there, it was like belonging to a club that I'd previously been excluded from.

It’s so sad our high streets are dying it’s a very worrying time for retailers

The thing is though, shops only close if they aren’t getting enough customers so people obviously aren’t shopping there enough to warrant them staying open.

Our town is working on getting shop rent down and supporting local retail business. There are a fair few co-located shops popping up too.

I went to try out a pram I researched online in Mothercare. Not one member of staff came upstairs to help. In the end we brought a similar model from a small independent retailer who also had an online store.

At the same time we looked at pushchairs. When we came to buy one we went to JL. The JL staff member was so helpful that we didn't even think about going elsewhere. When we checked price differences online there was about £5 difference.

The only thing we got from Mothercare was a high chair as I was given vouchers which I spent immediately.

I walked into my local mothercare the other day expecting it to have some amazing deals and offers...ummmmm nope! Everything was full price with a measly 10% off, whose gonna think that's a good deal? They are in this mess for a reason, their products aren't worth the prices they have

So anyone know of any decent high street stores that you can look at prams before you buy? My nearest mothercare is 40mins drive away but will be shut by the time I need to buy!

Ive just ordered two packs of their terry sleepsuits, does anyone know anywhere else which sells these?

@MrsWillGardner find a good independent store. I found them more knowledgeable and stocked a wider range of prams and car seats than any high street store

@PrayingandHoping

Thanks for that suggestion 👍🏻

I'm sure part of the reason Mothercare went under is that people would go there to "try out" pushchairs, car seats etc, ask their shop assistants for advice... but then shop around online and actually buy them elsewhere. I know that's certainly what I did!

@pinkstar01 I agree. Our local mothercare had 20% off maternity clothing but everything else was 10% making it approximately the same cost, or still slightly more expensive, as buying somewhere else. I bought one item.

I worked for elc and then Mothercare for 13 years and I’m glad Mothercare have gone. (Though I do feel sorry for the people who have lost their jobs and the share holders who bailed them out a few years ago to the tune of 10s of millions)
It was a horrible company to work for. They ran elc in to the ground when they took it over. They treated their staff like shit. Minimum wage yet expected to know everything about every Pram and car seat. Know the laws around Finance accounts and do bra fitting. You were threatened with a pip for the slightest failing (like people refusing e receipts) I was signed off by my consultant at 20 weeks into a high risk pg because I was never allowed to take my breaks. The company is a total joke and I’m amazed they lasted this long.

The try before you buy benefit is why they have gone under. Parents use the 'showroom' of Mothercare to test buggies and then buy cheaper online.
Shops are more expensive than online retailers as they have the overheads, nicely designed showrooms, more staff, less heating and lighting costs, crippling rents and rates. This is why the high street is dying, the power of the pound is more important for retailers and customers.

The whole idea of the high street needs to change, the experience received needs to be worth the price. Customer service needs to be much better, trading hours need to be changed (operating 9-5 when most of the country is at work themselves is pointless- shops should open later and close later).

Also Mothercare should have invested more heavily in their website to move with customer trends. I have been a parent for 10 years and I have never been able to use the website properly, it had so many glitches, things didn't add to the basket properly, no customer reviews, pictures not loading properly etc

It is a shame, I used to like to pop in and look at baby stuff, and maternity/nursing clothing as hardly any places have that in store, it’s all online.

As others have said, lots of people including some on this thread, found the nursery advice very useful, but went and bought online or second hand. John Lewis also have this problem and I think they’re in trouble too - their partner bonuses have been dropping lots in recent years due to poor sales. If you want to be able to try before you buy, you have to be prepared to actually buy at the store that offers this or it won’t last!!

The sales have been pathetic though. 10% off, and you obviously can’t return it!

Our local Mothercare was awful. Stock piled up like a jumble sale, half the stuff not priced, really bad customer service. This is going back 7 years, so I wasn’t surprised to hear they were going out of business. I think it’s a shame, as there is a market for that type of business - especially if it had knowledgeable staff.