Baby and maternity retailer Mothercare to roll out in-store cafe format

Its trial of the format at Edmonton, London, which launched in August, has yielded a sales increase of 30%.

Mothercare UK director Mike Logue said: “We expect to do another three or four before the end of the financial year [in March].”

The store debuts features such as ‘Mumspace’, in which mothers can gather for playgroups, and a coffee shop.

The retailer has already rolled out the format to its Nottingham and Dudley stores and Logue said it was “equally pleased” with the performance at those shops which had experienced a 15% sales uplift.

Mothercare chief executive Simon Calver said it would push ahead with a more “aggressive” roll out after its turnaround plan is complete in two and a half years.

Meanwhile, the coffee shop trial in Edmonton is to be expanded across more stores.

Logue said: “We persuaded Costa to come here, but they love it. They’ve come forward with 20 options across the country. We see this as a footfall driver and want it in our larger stores.”

The store was debuted as part of the maternity retailer’s turnaround plan which Calver kickstarted six months ago.

Improving Mothercare’s value perception has been a key strand in Calver’s plan. The value clothing lines it introduced in autumn 2012 proved a big hit with customers leading to the retailer buying three times more for spring 2013.

Value currently accounts for 10% of its clothing sales. Calver expects this to rise to 15% by spring next year and 20% in the medium term.

He said: “It’s not about making Mothercare a discounter. We need to have the basics and also product that people can trade up to.”

Calver said the move towards value had not impacted margin, with the level of product sold on markdown reducing. The retailer has also gained efficiencies by negotiating with its suppliers.

The retailer cut underlying loss before tax from £4.4m to £0.6m in the 28 weeks to October 13 and UK like-for-likes grew in the second quarter for the first time in ten quarters.