Georgia Baby & Kids: A Moving Experience

Georgia Baby & Kids: A Moving Experience

by Gerri Hunt -- Kids Today, 11/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

Georgia Baby imported a container of life-size props to decorate the new store.

Children pull their chairs up to the small tables in front of a movie screen flanked by heavy purple drapes, enamored by the kids movies that are continuously rolling.

They are inevitably excited that it’s not just another boring shopping trip with mom and dad, being dragged from aisle to aisle in a never-ending sea of products. But it’s a wonder the kids can even sit still long enough to become engaged with a movie, considering the Disney World-like atmosphere of the brand new Georgia Baby & Kids retail store

At 20,000 square feet, the store has life-size dinosaurs, pirates and spacemen, 12-foot long model airplanes; and a flying Martinek Bebe round crib hanging from the 14-foot ceiling.

“It’s nice to see customers smiling at the props, while young and old alike pose for photographs,” said Kent Smith, who owns the store with his partner, Bob Robinson. “We have been blessed with customers in Atlanta always supporting us,” Smith said. “So in planning the new showroom, we wanted to create something to give back to the community.”

Georgia Baby began in 1991 in Atlanta’s South Side. The store was 2,200 square feet – but 1,000 of it was warehouse space. When an opportunity arose to move to a location with Interstate exposure, they jumped at the chance. “We’d been wanting to go into Gwinnett County because it’s more affluent,” Smith said. “Back then, the property was golden … although it’s 30% vacant now.”

The retailer moved, sharing space with a 5,000-sq.-ft. mattress store in a strip mall. Within seven months, Smith and Robinson moved next door, filling their own 5,000 square feet of space. Over the years, the store doubled in size, and expanded once again, to 15,000 square feet. At one point, there were three locations, in South Side, Marietta and Gwinnett. But the duo decided it was better to focus on one large store, and kept their strip-mall location in Gwinnett.

But in October, they relocated 500 feet away to a freestanding building — a move that may seem surprising in this down economy, but it was one that made good financial sense. “We negotiated the lease which drastically cut our monthly rent cost,” Robinson said.

And the retailer has taken full advantage of the new space.

Georgia Baby has 26 youth and about 50 baby vignettes on the floor. “In planning the new showroom, we wanted to make it easier for the customers to shop,” Smith said. It is laid out by style and theme, rather than by manufacturer.

Georgia Baby & Kids maximizes space while at the same time making sure the shopping experience is unforgettable.

The baby department offers three styles and sections -- contemporary, traditional and casual. “All the furniture falls into one of those categories and is accessorized accordingly,” Smith said.

Customers leave the baby department through an Indiana Jones-looking façade, complete with dinosaurs and rain falling into a koi pond, and find themselves in the Rain Forest Room for teen furniture.

“Girlville is loaded with all the latest in girls’ furniture and accessories for the little princess,” Smith said. “From there you enter Boys Town, where you will find our selection of contemporary, stair, loft, step and twin-over-full bunks for boys (a best-seller).”

Georgia Baby tries to have something for everyone.

“We have a huge reputation for carrying a wide selection of quality furniture. The quality, the price points and the over-the-top merchandising is what makes us unique,” he said.

The retailer also has a 30,000-sq.-ft. warehouse and stocks a lot of furniture inventory.

“Some customers simply don’t want to wait eight to 12 weeks for their furniture,” Smith said. “Other than the big box stores, they are being quoted a long lead time and have had frustrating experiences with special ordering furniture in the past. So if they drive in from out of town and want to take a complete nursery home with them today, they have lots of choices.”

The store is a member of NINFRA, and carries some of that organization’s exclusive furniture, as well as several exclusives from case goods vendors. Smith pointed out that customers today shop with price and safety in mind, so many price points are offered.

“Our knowledgeable sales staff is there to not only educate them on benefits and features, but safety as well,” he said. “We are a destination business and have not just local Atlanta customers, but a lot of out-of-town business as well. With Google ads, we advertise in surrounding cities and states, and have people drive in just to shop for furniture.”

Georgia Baby also advertises on TV and other venues.

“Our Web site is designed to reflect what we offer in the brick-and-mortar store. We aren’t set up for e-commerce and don’t want to be,” Smith said. “We use billboard and Google ads to drive customers to the Web site where we provide pricing and product info to them, just for the purpose of getting them into the showroom.”

He said one of his biggest daily challenges is “keeping our profit margins in light of e-commerce sites that don’t have our overhead costs.” In addition to the lower rent, the retailer is cutting costs by eliminating an administrative position, offering a much larger selection for teens and getting back into the gear category.

“And we have Bugaboo, UppaBaby, Chicco and Peg Perego along with Baby Jogger that adorn the glass and chrome tabletops in our new gear department,” Smith said.

He said the goal for business in the next 10 years is to maintain and improve what they have done for the last 20 years – which shouldn’t be a problem. “Where else can you shop for bunk beds along side a life-size dinosaur?” Smith asked.