Babystyle to Open First Bricks-and-Mortar Store
Los Angeles-based babystyle, a maternity and baby lifestyle e-commerce site and catalog company, plans to open its first retail store, in Manhattan Beach, Calif., by late November.
Located at the Manhattan Village Shopping Center, the 2,200-square-foot store will serve as a prototype for possibly up to 100 future stores that are planned to roll out in the next five to seven years nationwide, according to babystyle founder and chief executive officer Laurie McCartney.
“One of our top priorities is to make shopping easier for busy moms, and this was the next logical step,” McCartney said.
Featuring a snapshot of items from the company Web site, the store will carry both hard goods, such as strollers and baby seats, and soft goods, such as baby and maternity clothing, key nursery items and other baby brands including Ralph Lauren and Little Me. Shoppers will also be able to utilize a baby registry and children’s play area.
Craftsman-inspired, the store’s deacute;cor will blend a cheerful color palette of pale yellows with wood fixtures, comfortable furnishings on which mothers can rest, and oversized dressing rooms with benches for breastfeeding needs.
McCartney said the company plans to promote the store with local grass-roots efforts and a targeted mailing to its existing customers in the area. She said the area’s demographics make it an ideal launching ground for babystyle’s retail strategy.
“It’s a great area with lots of new babies and solid household income,” she said. “The center is also a great mall that’s not too overwhelming. It’s very mom-friendly and offers great tenants from Pottery Barn Kids to California Pizza Kitchen.”
Sales for the store are targeted to be above the mall average of $321 per square foot, according to Tom Park, president and chief operating officer of babystyle, who was hired last year from his role as former executive of Disney Store Inc.
A former strategic planning executive with the Walt Disney Co., McCartney launched eStyle Inc., babystyle’s parent company, in 1999. Last year, the company began wholesaling its clothing to Bloomingdale’s.
A second Southern California store is planned to open by April 2003, but a site hasn’t been selected yet, McCartney said.
