BuyBuy Baby

Last night we visited the BuyBuy Baby store in our area and were pleasantly surprised by what we found. Upon entering we were greeted by a staff member and floor to ceiling stock of baby items. This may sound overwhelming but the set up is almost identical to that of Bed, Bath, and Beyond, we later discovered the two are affiliated. The store is laid out nicely and items are organized and easy to find. The store is new so it is very clean and well stocked but I get the feeling it will stay this way (at least I have high hopes of that happening).

The selection is great including products I thought were only available online such as the Beaba Baby Cook and the Your Baby Can Read program. I was surprised to see some other brands such as Haba and Melissa and Doug in the toy section, brands I personally love. What I didn’t see was a Moby wrap and I didn’t find they carried it on-line either (this is by far my favorite baby item I ever purchased).

Price wise I didn’t see a difference to the prices I’ve seen online and in other stores HOWEVER (and yes it’s a big however) not only does the store issue their own coupons but you can use competitor’s coupons and Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupons (as long as they haven’t expired). Something I noticed that was a bit of a shocker was a diaper bag $200 (by Storksak).  I had to check the tag twice. But don’t let that turn you away, if you are looking for a bag in the $25-$50 range they have those too.

Some good things I noticed;

·         If you are looking to purchase a stroller I recommend going to BuyBuy Baby. The selection is great and they provide a good deal of space for taking strollers out and pushing them around.

·         Toys to try. We were shopping for toys and were happy to find the display ones not strapped down, allowing us to try them out (again there was plenty of space for this right there on the clean floor).

Some not so good things I noticed;

·         The check out area is filled with what seems like hundreds of little items such as toys, candy, drinks, etc. Many of the items are very interesting, even drawing me in to take a look. I can only imagine what happens when you have a small child with you.

Overall, I love this store and am glad to have a more than adequate alternative to Babies R Us.

Here is some information about the store.

http://www.buybuybaby.com/

Columbia, SC 238 Harbison Blvd Columbia, SC 29212 Phone: (803) 732-3984		Store Hours: Monday - Saturday: 9:30am to 9:30pm Sunday: 1:30pm to 7:00pm -> View a map of this store