Brands like Babyletto and Emilia George are hoping to fill the BuyBuy Baby void

Baby brand entrepreneurs like Wang are slowly trying to fill the void of baby stores that started in 2018 when Babies R Us closed hundreds of stores nationwide. Then in 2023, nearly 120 BuyBuy Baby locations shut down when its parent company, Bed Bath & Beyond, went bankrupt. Though the baby furniture company Dream on Me bought out BuyBuyBaby in 2023 and hoped to plot a 100-store footprint, the company in October announced it was switching to an online-only brand and started winding down the handful of stores it kept open.

Now, smaller players are filling some of the brick-and-mortar gaps.

Wang said her store is a frequent hit with people who are shopping for baby shower gifts. But beyond independent entrepreneurs like Wang, other companies that specialize in big-ticket gear are also closing in on the opportunity. Babylist, the registry service, opened its Beverly Hills showroom in 2023, complete with a stroller test track, a model car to try out car seats and a wall of video monitors showing crib activity of robotic dogs. The space has become a frequent set for influencers and celebrity moms-to-be. Meanwhile, Kohl’s partnered with WHP Global to roll out around 200 mini Babies R Us store-in-stores.

But such concepts have yet to meet the same scale that mass baby retailers like BuyBuy Baby and Babies R Us used to offer, both of which boasted hundreds of stores. Instead, boutiques are flocking to big cities and higher-end shopping districts. This leaves room for players like Amazon, or specialty marketplaces like open box seller Rebelstork, as options for customers willing to forgo the in-person experiences.

In addition to its boutiques, Emilia George also has a website. Its clothes can be found through retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom. It also partners with Nuuly and Rent the Runway. But Wang said an in-person store makes sense for parents-to-be that want to be sure an item fits. “There are just way too many options, and you can buy and return and buy and return, and it doesn’t really help,” she said. “You really also don’t want to trust like a picture, rather than going to the store and talk to people and trust it.” 

Physical stores, she added, are a good option for people buying baby gifts, including men or fathers-to-be. “We have so many male customers because we offer products that address their very precise shopping needs — someone in their life is pregnant or having a baby or kids birthday gift or Mother’s Day,” she said. “They just tell us what they need, and we give them all the options.”

In September, furniture company Babyletto opened up its first showroom on the trendy shopping stretch of Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. Founded in 2006, the brand has become a top seller at places like Amazon and Target and is forecasted to bring in $300 million in retail sales for 2024, with about 24% retail growth. Its cribs and swivel gliders land on multiple best-of lists and product guides that make the rounds with Gen Z and millennial moms-to-be. 

Babyletto CEO Teddy Fong said the brand’s popularity, coupled with the changing landscape of shopping behaviors, informed the decision to open a store. Beyond the big players that no longer exist, there are fewer specialty stores that sell multiple brands of baby gear. 

“When I first started in 2006, there were over 1,000 mom-and-pop specialty shops across the country,” he said. “Now, there are probably 100. You go to Target and Walmart, and they have a couple of cribs on the floor, and that’s pretty much it. There’s really nowhere to go for a physical space to check out furniture.”  

So far, there’s some indication that the showroom experience helps inform customer decisions in a new direction. While white and neutral colors are the most popular online sellers of cribs, Fong said that bright hues like reds and greens sell more in-store. “What you put on the floor is what sells,” he said. 

Though online shopping is increasingly the method of choice for young shoppers, Fong sees promise in brick and mortar — especially for new parents who are discovering the category for the first time. Though Babyletto has yet to announce a second location, Fong said he thinks more baby brands may open stores themselves. “They’re the experts in their brand, and parents on this journey — and customers in general — are looking for that. Not a brand that is trying to be so many things for so many different people.” 

Still, bigger retailers like Walmart and Target are competing in the space. Both companies have ratcheted up the number of brands they carry and are changing how they market baby products in recent years. Target has specifically grown its nursing and feeding category to carry more breast pumps, like the wireless Elvie, and more formula brands, like Bobbie. In the latter half of October, Walmart added Frida Mom postpartum products and revamped children’s gear displays as part of its Store of the Future concept that started rolling out last year.

Jen Saxton, a baby gear expert and founder of the parent service marketplace Totsquad, said baby categories have become larger. This makes it more challenging for parents to shop, whether in person or online. The breast pump category has boomed in recent years with technological advancements in hands-free and wireless options. Strollers come in more lightweight and compact options, while there are also wagons that sell for upwards of $1,000. Car seats come in dozens of sizes and fits, with the latest trend being ones that rotate toward the door to place a child in without lifting them over the side. 

Saxton said that big-box stores have smaller areas to showcase all this gear compared to the extensive, interactive displays that Babies R Us or BuyBuy Baby would have. That means companies have to carefully curate what they put in the store. “The big challenge in the loss of the ByeBye Baby and Babies R Us [stores] of the world is that they had highly trained staff,” Saxton said. “They had specialized staff that could walk you around the strollers and talk to you.”

Wang from Emilia George said her boutique business has seen success, in part, because of how it blends products for moms-to-be, babies and postpartum parents. People can shop for themselves, for a baby or for a baby shower — she’s also experimented with selling through delivery services like Uber Eats. For example, the brand’s “New Mom Kits,” which offer premium versions of hospital bag essentials like postpartum care products and nursing bras, have a 100% sell-through rate at her stores. As of October 2024, the company’s online GMV grew 400% year over year, and in-store growth was 200% year over year. 

Wang is working on deals to support further expansion and create bounties across the country.

“We see Emilia George filling the market gap in parenthood shopping,” she said.