Mothercare has seen a better than average full year profit.
The baby brand, which in April last year saw tumbling profits, which it blamed on online sales, has reported a pretax profit of £8.3 million for the year to the end of March. This was a rise from the £1.6 million a year earlier.
However, the company also saw UK sales fall 10.8 percent to £499.7 million in the year, while UK like-for-like sales were down 3.6 percent, an improvement on the 6.2 percent decline a year earlier.
Last year the company made moves to try and fix the brand, putting in place a three year plan and hiring ex Amazon “guru” Simon Calver as its new head honcho. At the time it slashed 56 UK stores in the year to the end of March, ahead of its target of 50 closures.
However, it seems the company could also be riding high off the back of the baby boom. Despite being criticised last year by mums as being “pricey” and “outdated”, it seems some are being coaxed back.
“Mothercare is offering better prices and cute clothing recently,” one mum told ChannelEye, while another pointed out staff had become “better” trained.
“It seems they are a lot more knowledgeable now,” she told ChannelEye. “I went in asking about buggies and had a full hour demo of all the ones suitable.”
And it also seems the brand’s line of maternity clothing is also making a stance with the company offering reasonably priced style.
According to the founder of maternity fashion website – that’s me by the way – Does My Bump Look Good in This? the trend of wearing stylish maternity clothes has grown.
“With high profile celebrities, namely Kate Middleton, showing off their bumps in stylish clothing, regular mums-to-be are taking more notice of what the maternity fashion world has to offer,” Andrea-Marie Rankine said.
“It’s no longer about floaty blouses or dresses.
“Mothercare offers average priced on-trend maternity clothing, which appeals to women in all demographics. In most stores they are placed strategically next to new baby products, which is a perfect pitch for mums-to-be,” Rankine continued.
