An online nursery products firm led by a Huddersfield family has opened its first "bricks and mortar” store.
Direct2Mum, established in 2010 by Galpharm Pharmaceuticals founder Graham Leslie, his son Alex Leslie and daughter Fay Briddon, has opened the 3,000sq ft store at Galpharm Way, Dodworth, Barnsley to enable customers to see the company’s product range before they buy.
The store opening is part of the company’s five-year strategy to build the Direct2Mum brand in the retail sector.
It received significant funding from investment company One Degree Capital in 2013 and earlier this year acquired nursery stockist Bambino Direct for an undisclosed six-figure sum.
The new store sells products including nursery furniture, accessories for feeding and bath time, pushchairs and car seats.
The recent acquisition of Bambino Direct has increases its product portfolio to more than 10,000, including 80 big name nursery brands such as Silver Cross, Mamas and Papas, Babyway, Maxi-Cosi, Maclaren and Quinn.
The store has designated displays for its products, room sets showcasing its nursery furniture ranges, interactive demonstration areas illustrating how to take a car seat in and out of a car and a “fun track” for customers to test drive the prams, including grass, cobbles and tarmac surfaces.
The store is set to strengthen Direct2Mum’s existing online retail arm. While only a select few products will be on show in store, customers can access them all online at www.direct2mum.co.uk . The store is also based close to its 100,000sq ft warehouse.
Managing director Alex Leslie said: “The new Direct2Mum store is all about connecting customers with our products and enabling them to try before they buy.
“They may have already seen something they like online, but the store enables them to come in and see the products up close, but also take advantage of our experienced team that can provide guidance and advice on what’s best for them.
“We know that it can be daunting buying things for a baby, so we have worked hard to select only the best products and display them as clearly as possible. We want our customers to feel confident that what they are buying is of the highest quality and designed to last.”
Direct2Mum was launched in 2010 by the Leslie family.
Graham Leslie, a former chairman of Huddersfield Town, is resident professor of enterprise and entrepreneurship at Huddersfield University.
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