At thesuggestion of some readers, I stopped by Buy Buy Baby early Saturday afternoon while I was in NYC last weekend. The only baby “superstore” I had ever been to was Babies R Us, so when I walked in I thought it was going to be similar, except that the layout was more like a Bed Bath & Beyond or a Linens N Things or something. The wall of Elmo puppets (floor to ceiling) was impressive, but not that over the top. Downstairs though things got way more hardcore.
Downstairs is where the real baby gear is, and it was full of people. There were pregnant couples filling out registries, parents shopping with their Gap Kids toddlers, and couples looking for the perfect stroller. I really never had seen anything like the stroller shopping. At Babies R Us people look at the different strollers, maybe take one or two down and roll it around, and choose. At Buy Buy Baby it was like people were shopping for a car. Every couple had a sales person from the store going through all the features of each stroller, seemingly taking as much time as the customer wanted. I don’t know if the sales people work on commission or not, but it was some good customer service (and at over $700 for a Bugaboo Frog, it’s nice to be paid attention to). I didn’t end up getting anything, but it was worth the visit.
ps. I have
to credit “Bed Bath & Baby” to my host and good friend Dan.