A toddler and baby friendly cafe and shop

[theduchessofsmallthings]

Hi! I am in the process of starting a new business (scary!) and would really appreciate any feedback you can give!
I'm looking to open a shop with a cafe which is baby & toddler friendly selling lovely gifts, homewares and toys in Hove. The idea is that mums/grandmas etc can come and shop in a pram-accessible space or meet friends and have a coffee whilst children can have a play with some of the toys.

If you have any recommendations of other places in Brighton and Hove or have any ideas about what you look for when meeting up with friends/ any ideas about products that you would buy I would be incredibly grateful!!!

Thank you in advance :)

Have you checked out the book nook in hove, if it's still there. They have a cafe instore which is nice but it did make the shop part rather smelly. Think they had soup on the menu - possibly cabbage.

Good luck with the business though sounds like a great idea.

In terms of cafes, places with high places to put hot drinks out of reach, plenty of toys and a dedicated space for toddlers and a kid-friendly menu are what I look for. Crumpet in Battersea is the best I've come across, although I also love the foyer at the Dome here.

I have to say though that I wouldn't be able to relax in a gift/homeware shop with a toddler in tow. Sounds like a recipe for disaster ...

Wickle in Lewes works well and is v popular. Might be worth a visit.

hello theduchess I am thinking of a similar venture but in a different part of the country (so, not direct competition!). More coffee than gift shop though. How are you getting on with your plans?

The Sea Life Centre cafe USE TO to be a great for this sort of thing - though the food/coffee etc was pretty poor.

At the time DD was a toddler it was a great place for us mums to meet up & chat in peace thanks to it having its own soft play area - despite the poor drinks & food/choice it was very popular as a result - its gone now since the Sealife was renovated a few years back - so something similar is needed as I've heard Mum friends with younger DCs complaining & I look back & realise how lucky we were :)

So from that, if you've room, a good safe gated area with soft play area, I suspect this would probably make you very popular indeed & add decent food & drinks, with healthy choices & good veggie stuff too & I bet your place will be buzzing

Caffe Italia on George Street has a gated upstairs bit with toys in, rather manky toys but still better than nothing! The set up, where this area is away from main bit, works well I think.

Ah thanks so much everybody!
I love Wickle in Lewes! Although I don't have any kids of my own (would love one) I have loads of friends who feel uncomfortable going into some cafes as worried about making noise and not having the right facilities. I've been a teacher for 7 years so love kids and want to combine all my passions in one place and run my own business. Really appreciate all the advice!

But then the other thing about wickle is she's a genius at buying, and the rest of the stock is so gorgeous and unusual that we all happily pay over the odds for plastic animals and window stickers, just because they were next to something fantastic on the shelf
Ooh, I'm so up for visiting a like-wickle in hove, look forward to it!