Independent retailers are calling on nursery suppliers to help them drive business by ensuring their stockists lists are up-to-date and promoting the ‘backbone’ of the nursery trade.
The plea has been issued following a call-to-arms by Ian Davidson of Liverpool-based nursery store Babylicious in the aftermath of what has been a difficult few weeks in the nursery industry following Mothercare’s closure and Mamas & Papas entering administration.
Ian – who runs a Facebook group for the nursery industry – asked suppliers to put up posts listing their independent stockists on their social media channels last week to help drive customers instore who might previously have used Mothercare. A second plea appeared earlier this week as – despite supplier’s apparent best intentions – the plan had not been as successful as hoped.
“After my post last week about Mothercare, asking all suppliers to post about independent stockists, I am a little disappointed by the response,” Ian stated. “We really hope that we have more take-up on this now. We all need to work together and this should really be a top priority for all suppliers to pick up on.”
Other retailers also got involved, with Lorraine Zanker, owner of Trendy Baby in Clevedon, saying: “I would like to say a huge thank you to Bebecar and Peg Perego who constantly mention us indies on their social media pages. Cosatto has also created a post on Facebook this week allowing all its stockists to say where they are based.”
The Cosatto post from earlier this week began by saying it was sad to see what was happening with Mothercare, but asked followers and customers to remember: “…the great small independent retailers who are still open for business. It’s a tough time for retail. Please support your local stores 💛”
Cosatto then asked all independent stores who stock their products to comment below with their store name and location for consumers to see.
