It’s a Baby announces second showroom opening
Entrepreneur Charlotte Butterfield has expanded her nursery retail business – investing in an expected baby boom prompted by the recession.
The Bury -based businesswoman, whose successful projects include a black pudding company, says history proves that times of economic downturn are usually followed by an increasing birth rate.
“An investment into the nursery sector was thought to be a relatively recession-resistant proposition. “ said Charlotte who had been actively seeking a new commercial opportunity with her business partner Simon Bourne, and they purchased a small independent pram retailer last year.
It’s a Baby Ltd, which celebrates the official launch of its second nursery showroom next weekend (sept 24th),now has two stores on opposite sides of Rochdale Road, Bury close to the recently opened Rock shopping centre. It has introduced a wide range of top brands in collaboration with Bolton based manufacturer Cosatto Ltd.
Despite the financial downturn, the baby business has blossomed and It’s a Baby has included a range of social media on its e commerce website, including a blog forum, Twitter and Facebook pages, attracting visitors and customers from across the region and overseas.
Said Charlotte, “We’re really proud of our showrooms and have come a long way in a short time. We pride ourselves on our excellent product knowledge and commitment to customer service. Our local customer base is obviously very important and the new Rock development has definitely made a difference to local traffic in store. With an excellent logistics partner and the weak pound we are successfully servicing customers from all over the UK and across Europe.”
The new showrooms have a full range of Cosatto furniture displayed in individual bedroom sets. Added Charlotte “ Over the past two years Cosatto has been reborn launching cool and funky products for today’s mums and dads, designed by today’s mums and dads , at prices that won’t break the bank.”
Cosatto creative director Vicky Morley said “We were delighted when It’s a Baby approached us to work in collaboration on the nursery furniture showroom and the timing was perfect as we are expanding our range of products.”
The number of births in the UK has been steadily rising since 2001. In 2008 there were 708,711, babies born in England and Wales, 19,000 more than 2007, driven partly by increasing fertility rates and equivalent to 700 additional classrooms when these children start school.
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