Magic Beans is growing and growing and growing and...
Jane Kitchen -- Kids Today, 1/25/2011 1:38:32 AM
BROOKLINE, MASS. - When Sheri Gurock was pregnant with her second child, she had a hard time finding the high-end gear that she had a preference for, even in Boston. During a visit to Chicago, she stumbled upon Galt Toys + Galt Baby, which combines both toys and gear in its merchandise mix, and was instantly smitten with the entire shopping experience.
"That was the first place we shopped for double strollers," remembers Gurock. "My daughter was 18 months old, and she was having a blast with the toys while we shopped."
A few months later, the local Imaginarium in her Boston neighborhood closed its doors, and with all the fixtures and shelving still in place, it seemed like a turnkey proposition, said Gurock. Gurock's daughter was born in March 2004; in July 2004, Gurock and her husband, Eli, opened what would be the first of their Magic Beans stores.
The Gurocks did some minor renovations in the Brookline store, including one that would set the scene for the growth of Magic Beans.
"We wanted people to come in to use the bathroom if nothing else," said Gurock, who as a mom herself knows the importance of a good restroom. "We wanted the cleanest, nicest bathroom," she said, "the best place to change your baby."
But renovating the bathroom meant that Magic Beans' stockroom lost some square footage.
"We didn't anticipate what volume would be in the store," said Gurock. "We didn't have anything close to what we needed to operate the store."
After warehousing in their garage, basement, and wherever else they could find, the Gurocks realized they needed a real warehouse. They found one nearby, and soon realized it was large enough to supply a second store.
"That was how the snowball started rolling downhill - fast," said Gurock.
In November 2007, the Gurocks opened not one, but TWO stores - one in Hingham, one in Wellesley - within a week of each other. One was a new real estate development that they had signed a lease on a year before, and the other was a space that suddenly became available in a lifestyle center the Gurocks had had their eyes on for some time.
"It was like having twins in two different hospitals," said Gurock. "The stores were 40 minutes apart, and we were constantly back and forth." Two years later, in December 2009, they opened their fourth store in Cambridge in a space that had been a toy store for 35 years. The Gurocks went from lease signing to opening in 23 days.
MERCHANDISE MIX
Magic Beans is a 50/50 split between baby gear (strollers, car seats, furniture, baby carriers, accessories and gifts) and toys. Gurock said she looks for quality, design and functionality in all her merchandise.
"If a product doesn't have those things, it doesn't have a place with us," she said. Magic Beans' customers are parents who are willing to pay a premium for quality, and Gurock said because of that, it's not really a price-driven store in terms of the way she sculpts her selection. That said, she's careful to add that the store is by no means high-end for the sake of being high-end.
"We love things that are great value...but we're looking for things that will deliver for parents and last and last, because as parents, those are the products we like to use," said Gurock.
Gurock said she understands that parents' needs vary drastically depending on their lifestyle, and Magic Beans' philosophy is that they can solve those problems for everyone in smart ways.
"What makes it work is that we're very open-minded," she said. "We think about all the different types of parents." Gurock said she looks for what she calls a "modern value" - products that appeal to a modern aesthetic, but aren't unreasonably priced.
In terms of furniture, the store carries a limited selection of cribs from Stokke, Oeuf, and Bloom, as well as gliders from Best Chairs and Monte Designs. Gear is from Uppa Baby, Bugaboo, Phil & Ted's, Baby Jogger, Mountain Buggy, Valco and Maclaren. Toys are for all ages, but Gurock said the "sweet spot" is between 0 - 5.
"There's definitely a synergy (between toys and gear), but it has its limits," said Gurock. "...People travel to make their gear purchases, but they don't travel to make their toy purchases."
IT'S IN THE DETAILS
Magic Beans stores vary in size from 2,400 square feet in Cambridge to 5,000 square feet in Wellesley, and so the layout of each is different.
"Each of our stores has its own unique personality," said Gurock. In all the stores, however, Gurock said there is an effort to keep the toys a bit separate from the baby gear.
"The first-time pregnant couple will get very intimidated if they're trying to shop in the middle of screaming toddlers," she explained.
Each store also features a cash wrap island designed with a different diorama of Schleich animals, positioned exactly at children's eye-level.
"It's really, really nice for kids," said Gurock. "As parents are dealing with the business end, they're really entranced by these animals."
All of the Magic Beans store also include a Playscape area for kids to try out many of the toys offered in the store, and stores hold community events like storytime and crafts activities, designed to be enjoyed by parents and kids alike.
Magic Beans has also had great success with an event they've called "Stroller Speed Dating." Mimicking traditional speed dating, they set up stations all over the store with a salesperson and a stroller at each.
Customers get ten minutes at each station, getting fast facts about each stroller and marking their thoughts on clipboards with scorecards (one choice to check: "It's not you, it's me."). At the end, parents may go back to their top picks for open question time, and to give the strollers a spin.
ONLINE AND AHEAD OF THE CURVE
In developing their website, mbeans.com, the Gurocks were very conscious of the fact that the quality of the experience was very important.
"We think our site has grown to be something that we are very proud of - how it looks, how it shops, the ease of use," said Gurock. "It's starting to pay off."
The store's online selection is still much smaller than the brick-and-mortar stores.
"We put so much time into how we configure products," said Gurock. "We're very selective."
The website also features an "Email the Owners" page, a way to translate the all-important customer service online, with a promise that "Eli and Sheri read every e-mail personally."
Gurock said they were also very early to social media, starting a blog in 2005, and using Facebook and Twitter long before everyone else.
"We've got a really good understanding of how social media works, and how to connect," said Gurock.
But she said the online world is changing, and not always for the better. "This is a very tough time for anyone in retail," said Gurock. "2010 alone has brought about shocking changes in the way people shop."
Gurock said she thinks sites like Groupon, which email subscribers a heavily discounted coupon for a local store or service, have changed the mentality of the way people shop.
"A lot of people feel less motivated to pay full price - especially parents who have a lot of things to buy," she said.
FUTURE PLANS
Despite their rapid growth, Gurock said they're still trying to determine what the ideal store is in terms of size and location. As for new stores, she said there are "a couple of options on the table." However, she said, "We want to grow intelligently, and not for the sake of opening more doors."
For now, the Gurocks are content with their four stores in six years.
"We were looking at a 5th store for this year," said Gurock. "But we looked at each other and said ‘We don't want to push it.'"
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