Mothercare (Shop)

...been a regular shopper at Mothercare for nearly 3 years. I have been a customer throughout conception, pregnancy, baby and toddler stages and would like to share the knowledge I have of the company and stores with any parents or parents to be. I started shopping at Mothercare way back in 2001 when I first found out I was pregnant. I subsequently lost the pregnancy and several others before carrying my daughter to term in December of 2002.
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...of Mothercare store which I have come across - the smaller town centre Mothercare branches and the larger out of town Mothercare World superstores.

The smaller branches have not been a favourite of mine due to the fact the range of products seems a lot more limited and the staff appear to be a lot less knowledgeable than the bigger superstore alternatives.

There is no online store locator but if you call 08453 304030 ... more

My "baby" is now 14 months old so I have been a regular shopper at Mothercare for nearly 3 years. I have been a customer throughout conception, pregnancy, baby and toddler stages and would like to share the knowledge I have of the company and stores with any parents or parents to be. I started shopping at Mothercare way back in 2001 when I first found out I was pregnant. I subsequently lost the pregnancy and several others before carrying my daughter to term in December of 2002.

Location of stores
There are two "flavours" of Mothercare store which I have come across - the smaller town centre Mothercare branches and the larger out of town Mothercare World superstores.

The smaller branches have not been a favourite of mine due to the fact the range of products seems a lot more limited and the staff appear to be a lot less knowledgeable than the bigger superstore alternatives.

There is no online store locator but if you call 08453 304030 they should be able to advise you of your nearest branch. Alternatively, try the yellow pages or www.yell.com

Range of items
The bigger superstores appear to have the full range of products which I have listed to give you an idea below. If the shop doesn't stock a particular product, they operate a home delivery service from their catalogue or you can order online from their website www.mothercare.com. A positive point about Mothercare's range is they always seem to have a few ranges of products with themes which carry through the whole spectrum. For example, they would have a lovely range of Winnie the Pooh nursery furnishings which could be accessorised with matching baby bath, clothes, nappy bins - even cups and bowls. So expectant parents could decide on a theme and buy everything they need for baby from that one range.

Maternity items
This range includes maternity clothing, hospital items and nightwear, feeding / support bras and underwear from sizes 8 to 20. Bra sizes range up to 44 inches and a G cup. They stock a wide range of clothes for working pregnant women to tracksuits and jeans for casual wear. Of course you have the token pair of dungarees which must be in every pregnant woman's wardrobe at some point!!

Clothing
Mothercare's baby clothes are split into two ranges for baby or child.

The baby range comes in the following sizes:
Early baby up to 5lb
Tiny baby up to 7.5lb
Newborn up to 10lb
0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, 12-18 and 18-24 months
The child range comes in the following sizes:
1-1.5, 1.5-2, 2-10 years (in 1 year increments)

Generally there is a large selection of clothing, hats, shoes, underwear for all sizes, in fact I would say this is their largest range of products. Normally the range is seasonal and features many favourite characters such as Winnie the Pooh and Humphrey's Corner (at a much higher price of course)!! I find their sizes come up about right for age range and that is based on a baby who was very average, following the 50th percentile for weight and height.

Safety
This section of the store includes stairgates, playpens and safety items such as cupboard locks and smoke alarms. Mothercare do the biggest range of stairgates I have seen in any baby store and we managed to co-ordinate our stairgates with the beech coloured wood of our door frames! Some might not think that best, but mainly they're the visitors who walk into our gates because they blend into the surrounding decor!!

Feeding
Everything you need for assisting with breast or bottle feeding (breast pumps / sterilisers / teats / bottles / baby formula milks) and also for moving onto solid food (cups / plates / cutlery / high chairs / bibs).
Mothercare have a nice selection of high chairs to suit most budgets and different dining circumstances at home. These range from light weight travel high chairs which are easy to store, to solid wood high chairs designed to be included as part of the furniture.

Bathtime
My daughter's favourite time of day is her bathtime and always has been. You can choose from various designs of plastic baby baths, bath seats, safety thermometers and many toiletries for baby.
Mothercare quite often have deals on baby toiletries so it's good to keep your eyes open each time you visit and stock up when you can.

Toys
There is a huge range of toys in many of the bigger stores ranging from toys suitable for newborn babies such as cot mobiles and stimulating coloured soft toys, right up to tricycles and art materials for inquisitive toddlers. The town centre stores seem to have limited toy ranges in my experience.

Nursery furniture and bedding
You can purchase the entire nursery furniture from Mothercare, including the cot or cot bed, wardrobe, drawers, changing station and rocking feeding chairs. They also sell mattresses, bedding and wallpaper to complete that co-ordinated look! The products vary greatly in price and hence quality. You can buy a cot for as little as £100 but the quality does reflect the price.
Bedding on the other hand is fairly expensive in my experience compared to other stores with no noticeable justification in the quality.

Travel
For car owners, there is a pretty extensive range of car seats and accessories to keep little ones safe. Mothercare stock a wide range to fit many cars for newborn babies up to older children. Trained fitters will bring carseats out to your car to fit it for you properly before generally allowing you to purchase it. I find this a fantastic service because we were going to buy a car seat from an online shop which we later found out, thanks to Mothercare, that it didn't fit out car safely. We have purchased two stages of carseat from Mothercare and have been completely satisfied with the expertise they showed both times.

Out and About
Many people who know me, know that I cannot have the same pushchair for too long. It's like a fashion accessory to me. You wouldn't wear brown shoes with a blue outfit, so why not co-ordinate buggies!! Luckily, as my baby has grown and our situation changed, Mothercare have been there with an ever changing range of prams, travel systems and buggies. My other half groans as we enter the store and I head for the "Out and About" section!
They sell items from big companies such as Graco, Britax, Cosatto, Chico, Maclaren, Inglesina and Urban Detour. Again, there is a pushchair to suit your budget, boot size, circumstance and taste. They also sell accessories such as raincovers (as if we need those here in England) and parasols.
For toddlers who no longer want to sit in their buggy, they have a range of reins and wrist straps to keep hold of those wandering tots.

Books
One of my first purchases from Mothercare was a book entitled "Oh My Goodness You're Going To Be A Parent"!! Since then, I have found myself browsing books on pregnancy, birth, newborn health and cookbooks for toddlers. I also received a beautiful Baby Record book as a gift when Freya was born. They don't have a vast range of books, but you may find something to help you.

So what is the actual shopping experience like? Like I say, I have been a customer now for nearly 3 years and generally I have found shopping in Mothercare a pleasant experience. I am fortunate that my local Mothercare store is one of the "said" Mothercare World superstores. I have been into a town centre Mothercare only when necessary simply because I find the range of products dismal.

Store layout
The sections of the store aren't generally labeled as you walk in. But because this store isn't arranged in aisles, it's fairly easy to see by gazing where most products would be (unless you're 4 foot nothing). Logically, it's laid out well with ranges next to each other in the order you might need them. There isn't a huge amount of room to manouvere between displays, so if you are trying to shop with a buggy or a huge bump, it can be a little difficult.

Service
Staff unfortunately do seem few and far between with most members of staff manning the tills. When I have needed help with items, I have had to ask someone to come and help me. Generally I find the superstore staff to be more helpful and pleasant to deal with.

Staff knowledge
When I have needed a particular skill such as car seat fitting or being measured for a bra, I have found that not every member of staff can do every job. However, if they couldn't do what I needed, they are good at finding someone who can help me fairly quickly. Only once did I need a bra fitting and the only member who could do it was on her lunch. But I would rather the honesty than someone who was not trained. Every store should have staff trained to measure women for bras and advise on buggies and car seats.

Returns policy
When I went for my 20 week scan, I was told that we were most certainly expecting a boy. I popped into Mothercare over the following 12 weeks and purchased various items in shades of blue. However, I had an emergency scan at 32 weeks which revealed our "Ryan" was not what "he" had appeared to be!! Mothercare were fantastic and exchanged all my blue items for the pink variety without receipts. If you have receipts, they will offer to refund you with no questions asked.

Queues and tills
Depending on the time of year, the queues for tills can be quite long. The January sales are the worst or the lead up to Christmas. However, if there are tills which are not open and a queue forms, they do seem to endeavor to open those tills without being asked to do so. Staff seem fairly efficient and queues don't ever seem to last too long.

Changing rooms
There are changing rooms to try on maternity clothes. Depending on the store, some of these are very luxurious. I visited a Mothercare World in Newbury the weekend it opened and was amazed to see the changing room stocked with tape measures, fresh flowers and complimentary breast pads. A lovely touch which other stores should take on board. Generally though, the changing rooms are clean and of a decent size.

Parent and baby rooms
I like the fact the baby changing rooms are called Parent and Baby rooms as opposed to Mother and Baby rooms. Many times, my Significant Other has been into the store with baby in tow without me. I find it offensive sometimes that a father cannot change his own baby because of the wording of a Mother and Baby room. These rooms should be stocked with complementary nappies and wipes and our local branch is good at keeping them clean and well stocked.

Catering facilities
Some of the large superstores have cafes or restaurants for parents to have a break and a coffee. There aren't too many of these though which is a shame as I find it a nice touch. Some of the cafes are self service with coin operated hot drinks machines. It can be a godsend for dad's if mum-to-be insists on trying on everything in the store!!

Sales
Mothercare seems to have a permanent sale on in some shape or form. If you hunt around, many items are reduced and as each season changes, they have a big clear out of goods at hugely reduced prices.

Payment
You can pay for goods with all the main high street payments such as debit and credit card, cheque and cash. They also sell gift vouchers and there is a Mothercare account card available to help spread the payments. They offer a 10% discount for opening an account, so if you're buying a large amount in one go, this could be a money saving idea as long as you pay it off before the APR kicks in!!

So, all in all, I conclude that the shop was a godsend for me while expecting my first child and has remained a staple part of my shopping diet ever since. I find the prices are about average, with some items being very competitively priced. The range of maternity products made up nearly my entire maternity wardrobe and hospital bag. I think I will enjoy shopping at Mothercare for many years to come. Let's hope we hear the patter of tiny feet again soon ;o)

For more info see
Mothercare.com or call 08453 304030

Thanks for reading, Tamsin  

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