Parent & children‘s products retailer Kiddicare has today opened its first new concept superstore in Nottingham, unveiling new branding as it seeks to firmly establish itself in the ‘bricks & clicks‘ market.
Opening today, the store, situated at Nottingham‘s Castle Marina park, is the first of 10 new concept stores from the retailer which is owned by grocer Morrisons following its purchase in February last year.
Stores will be “tech-rich” to enhance the customer experience, featuring touch-screen kiosk technology with barcode scanning allowing shoppers to check product availability as well as choose from multiple delivery options.
Occupying 33,000 sq ft , the location for the Nottingham store, which was chosen following a social media vote earlier this year, has created 100 jobs.
Scott Weavers Wright,. Kiddicare CEO, said of the opening: “Kiddicare Nottingham is just the beginning; over the next 12 months we‘re launching a further nine destination superstores.
“The baby market is set to grow by 28 per cent in the next five years and we‘re firmly on the front foot to meet demand.”
A new store format has been created by the team in collaboration with retail design agency 20.20 and focuses on family unit, with a soft-play area for youngsters alongside a Kiddicafe offering healthy snacks to parents with space to socialise with friends and family. A community room also offers free parenting classes, mother & baby events and baby showers.
Kiddicare.com, the retailer‘s online offering, is also undergoing a redesign with a number of features in the early stages such as the new Baby Gift List and a product library to aid new customers.
At the start of the year, Morrisons received a reverse premium payment of £40 million as it took over the leases of 10 former Best Buy units in the hopes of allowing room for Kiddicare‘s expansion as it sought to capitalise on the retreat of Mothercare from the high street.
Commenting on the quick turnaround, Richard Pennycook, Kiddicare Chairman and Morrisons CFO, said: “Morrisons is delighted to see the first of the former Best Buy retail units open as a Kiddicare baby specialist superstore within nine months of acquisition.
“It‘s a fantastic new journey for Kiddicare and a brilliant new concept for customers. The future for Kiddicare and families alike is an exciting one.”
