A3 Baby Barn – A Personal Baby Service | Baby Photographer Surrey – Leanne du Plessis Photography
I had the privilege of spending 3 days last week with the A3 Baby Barn during their Baby Event. For those that are not aware, the A3 Baby Barn is a Baby product store, just off the A3 in Chessington, with a fantastic personalised service. From a personal perspective – the atmosphere in the store, quality of products, staff knowledge of products and the shop’s personal touch – are factors that make the A3 Baby Barn stand out from a regular baby chain store or supermarket. As a baby related business myself, it’s been great finding another business that I can network with. And one that holds similar values as highly as I do.
Over the past couple months, I’ve gone out to numerous businesses to create mutually beneficial partnerships, and A3 Baby Barn was one on my route. When I first offered my services in exchange for photography for their business, the staff advised me that they already work with someone. I then opened up my mini photo book to show them the quality of my work and that sold the deal. Shop owner, Amanda, and shop manager, Sam, offered me the opportunity to showcase my work at their Baby Event over a weekend in April. I have a few offers for businesses and they accepted one offer in exchange for the opportunity. I walked out of the store with a smile from ear to ear. What more could a small business owner want, than to potentially partner with another like minded busines. A business that values quality and customer service.
During the 3 days I was at the Baby Event, I learned a lot about baby products. Considering I’m a Mum of 2 and work with babies regularly, I was surprised how much there was to learn about car seats (this will be a future blog post), different prams for different lifestyles, organic clothing and even how to fold a double buggy. Plus something that many parents don’t always consider – Baby and Child First Aid. I got to talking with Helen from Mini First Aid Surrey and will definitely be going on a course with her. I was in my element. I love babies, I love learning and I love being able to offer my client more than just photography, but knowledge about the baby business too. And if I were to have another baby, I would definitely go for a shop, like the A3 Baby Barn, with a personal service.
I asked the A3 Baby Barn a few questions on their business and here’s what they said :-
All the staff at A3 Baby Barn were really knowledgeable about the products on the shop floor. How do you choose which products to showcase and which not to, on the shop floor?
It’s really down to our opinion based on experience on what works and what doesn’t. The girls in the shop all have many years of experience in this industry, we have a play with the new products and know what to look for in a product. Trade shows and people bring new products for us to see so we are always kept up to date with the market. We then assess what are products are good and go from there. We do like to stock a variety of price ranges to suit different budgets, but all products are quality products and comply with health and safety.
There are so many Baby buggy options to choose from, yet the staff only offer a few options to their clients, so as not to confuse them. How do you decide which options are best for a particular client?
Choosing a buggy can be daunting and loads of options to choose from. Instead of giving clients hundreds of options, we aim to give them three different options. When they first come in, we talk to them about their given situation and lifestyle and then show them 3 different buggy’s that are suitable to their circumstances. For example, if a client does lots of walking, we’ll show them 3 different buggy’s suitable for walking. It doesn’t necessarily mean 3 different price brackets, but rather 3 options suitable for that particular client. We gage what kind of product they want from this chat, which is why the inital chat is very important. Other important factors that play a role in which buggy’s we choose are whether they are using public transport or whether they are getting in and out of a car, or whether they have to take the buggy upstairs at their house or not.
In the past few weeks, we’ve gone from snow days to heat waves. Whilst I’m not complaining, knowing how to dress your baby accordingly is very important. What does the A3 baby barn recommend for keeping baby cool during the hottest April in 70 years? Are these products listed in your shop?
It’s really important to know how to dress baby and keep them cool in this weather. We sell various items in our store to help keep baby cool. Some of them include baby car liners (see below video), UV shades and organic clothing. Dressing baby in layers of cool, natural clothes. We stock a variety of cute organic clothes in our store. The below video shows Louise from A3 Baby Barn explaining how the baby car liners work.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhypWkDBTWO/
And just for fun, what is your craziest baby trend that you’ve ever seen whilst in the baby business?
We don’t really have any crazy trends, due to health and safety and especially as it relates to babies. However, at the moment, the trend is the Matchstick Monkey. Matchstick Monkey is the phrase at the moment in the baby world. Two months ago, if you’d mentioned Matchstick Monkey, I wouldn’t know what you were talking about. These baby trends usually get out by word of mouth and discussions in mum’s groups, so they escalate pretty quickly. Below is a video of Louise from A3 Baby Barn with her 4 month old baby, Axel, demonstrating the use of the Matchstick Monkey.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg8XQW1H0ri/
Here are some of the images from the A3 Baby Barn Event – the products, the staff, the reps from various companies doing demonstrations, the clients and the friendly, professional atmosphere. Definitely not a Baby Event to be missed next time.
If you have a baby related business and would like to partner with Leanne du Plessis Photography, please get in touch for further details.
Call or text Leanne on 07522 554 093
Or email on leanne@leannedpphotography.co.uk