I fondly remember the first time we visited Baby Bunting. My mum insisted that we organise some clothes for the baby (yet to be born). I guess this was February 2008.
It's a massive store, the one in Oakleigh. There's the 30 to 40 different prams on display, sofas, bedding, car seats, baby capsules, clothes, maternity wear, toys, chairs, nappies (by the boxload, $50 for 144 disposable Huggies nappies), more prams, an entire wall full of baby bottles and ephemera and of course, more prams and nappies and wipes. There's also a burly (female) security guard, thefts have risen dramatically.
I was pondering my MBA recently (like, why the hell I did it) and thought about strategy. And one of the parts of understanding and developing strategy is looking at the changes in environment. One of those changes was government policy. I'm not sure when the baby bonus was introduced by Howard's crew (now in excess of 4000$) but anyone who got into the baby industry before then must be raking it in now. All those cashed up mum's and dad's buying $1000 prams (ok, joggers) and expensive sterilization equipment would support a new business quite well. Basically, baby stuff has become an industry, funded in large part by taxes. Baby megastores like BabyBunting have destroyed smaller business that can't compete on price, forcing those niche businesses to go upmarket or out of business (witness the ex-Ferrari shop that became "Parenthood" and then closed down).And that's where the Indonesian hardwood ends up in designer swings and cots. Seriously, $1000 for a jogger is mind boggling.
Certainly, Baby Bunting never seems quiet. We've been on Saturdays and Sundays and there's always about 50 shop assistants running around. But like a bad restaurant, they're always busy with another customer.
They've even got a philosophy:
1 comment:
The worst time to visit Baby Bunting is on the weekend. I once went there mid-week and it was disturbingly pleasant.
I think their philosophy should be: take advantage of sleep-deprived, nervous parents by presenting them with a range of products too vast to comprehend and of dubious necessity.
Not that I've seen other stores any better than Baby Bunting.
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