A full-service baby-goods retailer for parents and mums-to-be which recently opened in Central, is rooted more in happenstance than planning.
Baby Basics was founded by sisters Arati Limbu and Anuradha Limbu Chettri, Nepalese who grew up in Hong Kong and have worked in the baby-goods retailing industry here almost their entire careers. Arati, a mother of two and author of parenting guide A Round Trip to Baby Land, serves as MD, Anu as administration director.
Both had worked with Bumps to Babes and when that retailer collapsed early this year, they decided to launch their own venture.
With the help of an angel investor, and their IT-specialist brother, the pair bought the best-selling 20 per cent of stock from the Bumps to Babes liquidation sale and pulled together a team of eight staff, mostly from the folded company.
First, Anu oversaw the building of a website for Baby Basics and when that proved a success they started planning their first store, which opened on Queens Road in September.
While the business is still in its early days, they have found, as they had hoped, that many of the customers of the old business have moved to their new venture. Given the prime Queens Road location, many new customers are checking out the 1950sqft store as well.
The demise of Bumps to Babes essentially made them “accidental entrepreneurs,” reflects Arati.
“We’d never thought we would start something like this. We were in our comfort zone. We were used to going to work, and at Bumps to Babes it was like working for family. Most of the staff had been there for many years, and it had become a lifestyle for us. We’d never considered doing anything else. We thought it would never end, and that we would retire from there.”
Fate had different plans.
“After Bumps to Babes was gone, there was a gap in the market,” says Arati. “There are other baby shops in Hong Kong, but they don’t have a comprehensive range of products that parents would need. We knew how it works, and we felt we could fill the void.”
Their past experience and contacts in the industry all over the world enabled them to quickly build a carefully curated collection of stock which stands out from any other retailer in the space. In Baby Basics, they have blended new ideas of their own with lessons from the previous business.
“We knew that some ranges were more popular than others. We aim to bring back products that are more practical, more environmentally friendly, and give more value for money. This allows us to stick to a price range that is more affordable for parents in their daily lives. We also believe it is a more sustainable way of doing business.”
Providing parents with a multichannel retail platform was essential to the venture’s early success. Arati says the website helped build brand awareness and an understanding of the range before they committed to the expense of a physical store.
The sisters equally believed a brick-and-mortar store is essential to the business and its reputation, providing customers the opportunity to see and feel the quality of the products before buying – and offering peace of mind should something go wrong with goods they bought.
“You don’t want to jeopardise your reputation by selling something that doesn’t work, or if your customers have difficulty in communicating with you,” says Arati.
Full cycle
Baby Basics stocks products to help parents through the whole cycle of early childhood.
For those expecting, it ranges parenting classics like What to Expect When You’re Expecting and other acclaimed children’s books from leading UK publisher Usborne alongside contemporary guides like Arati’s Round Trip to Babyland which offers practical pointers on “buying for the baby”.
For new mums, the store stocks items including sterilisers bottles, soothers and teets for babies, and other feeding equipment. From playpens and safety gates, to cribs and changing tables, Baby Basics provides all the furniture and accessories needed to ensure a home is baby ready, including “baby-proofing” gadgets, cots and high chairs.
Clothes for babies include bodysuits and sleepsuits featuring whimsical designs and comfy fabrics.
And there are foods for quick and easy meals at home or snacks out and about – nutritious foods such as Ella’s Kitchen line-up of organic fruit and vegetable snacks.
The store features a relaxation zone where parents can recuperate after a day of shopping, which doubles as a space where mothers can feed babies and rest in a clean and quiet environment in the middle of the city.
Arati says Baby Basics is committed to serving mums and dads, new parents and mums-to-be.
“We aim to provide our expertise and personalised services based on years of experience and offer the best-quality products to our customers. We offer a selective range of bestselling and key line products from around the world at affordable prices as these are the necessities and essentials for parents, babies and mums-to-be.”
- This feature originally appeared in the Winter edition of Inside Retail Hong Kong’s magazine edition, available by subscription in digital or print versions.
