BabyUniverse Launches Catalog Apr 21, 2008 1:39 PM
, By Patrick Barnard
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After doing business online
for the past 11 years, BabyUniverse, a subsidiary of The Parent Co., has gone
multichannel with the release of its new catalog.
The 44-page book, which first dropped in early April, sells cribs, strollers,
car seats, baby furniture, bedding, toys, safety products, diaper bags, organic
products and a variety of other baby-related items. The product selection
covers newborns, babies, toddlers and even “big kids.”
“We felt this was a great opportunity for The Parent Co. brand and for the
BabyUniverse brand,” says Sheliah Gilliland, spokesperson for The Parent Co.
Gilliland says the company is planning a second drop later this year, but
emphasized that these first two drops are a test. She would not provide the
size of the mailings.
Based in Denver, CO, The Parent Co. was born out of the October 2007 merger
between BabyUniverse and eToys Direct, an online toy retailer which has had a
catalog since 2003.
The launch of the new catalog coincides with a redesign of the BabyUniverse
Website and a whole new look and feel for the BabyUniverse brand. Gilliland
says the new BabyUniverse is designed to be “more modern … more appealing to
today’s mothers, particularly young moms who live in upscale suburban neighborhoods.”
She says the company has placed a strong emphasis on giving the catalog and Website
the same look and feel, as well as on including mechanisms so that the catalog and
Website drive traffic to each other.
As part of the brand overhaul, BabyUniverse.com has been enhanced with
customer-friendly tools that make it easier to navigate and make purchases.
Visitors can view products in a variety of ways, including by brand and by category.
In addition the site includes up to 30 new “boutiques” -- subsites focused on a
single vendor’s products -- as well as a gift registry.
In addition to the BabyUniverse.com and eToys.com Websites, The Parent Co. also
sells personalized dolls and accessories through its My Twinn.com Website;
brand-name baby, toddler and maternity products through its DreamtimeBaby.com
Website; and luxury baby items through its PoshTots.com and PoshLiving.com
Websites. It also operates three content-only sites, BabyTV.com,
PoshCravings.com and ePregnancy.com.
