Having not been in a Mothercare shop since the age of six, it was a wholly depressing experience to rediscover the store in the eighth month of my recent pregnancy.
Looking for a one-stop solution to all my new baby needs, Mothercare was the first name that came to mind. After all, this was where my own mother had shopped for baby clothes, toys and pushchairs.
Ten minutes after I sailed in, I marched out again empty-handed, stressed and affronted at the bad staff attitude, poor store layout and downmarket products. To anyone with a modicum of taste it's a nightmare of chavvy logos, candy pink and plastic tat, guaranteed to bring on a migraine in minutes.
The whole shopping experience is an ordeal too. My local store keeps all the useful baby gear up a steep flight of stairs. There's no lift so you're expected to leave your child's buggy unattended.
In a shop full of frayed mothers, frantic toddlers and pregnant women, a helpful staff member is almost impossible to locate.
There's simply no excuse for this kind of chaos and mothers have voted with their credit cards.
