There is a change in the air, I can just feel it.
When I first opened Maternity Revolution 9 years ago, there was a desperate shortage of Maternity Wear stores and so there is little wonder our store was such a hive of activity. Over the past few years things have been changing.
Now I'm not big on change so I've been in denial for a little while now but it seems online shopping is becoming more popular than instore shopping. GASP! I'm at a bit of a loss to understand it because buying clothes online is just so touch and go. Sizes vary greatly and what looks good on the model may look horrible on you. Things get even trickier when you are talking maternity wear, particularly bras etc.
I have a bit of a theory and that is that in the tough economic times of late many maternity stores have disappeared and for many ladies, they don't have the choice. They buy online or not at all. The stores that are around are often small with very little choice. Often they are also expensive. This has given online maternity stores the monopoly.
Whatever the reasons, ladies are choosing more and more to shop online and the stores that are still around are pretty much staying open for a small minority of shoppers. I predict that in the next few years there will be only online maternity wear stores and a few brand specific stores like Ripe and Pea in a Pod.
This may well be the case for normal fashion and many other retail stores as well. It would be interesting to see where places like Westfield stand on this. Surely they must reduce their rents soon to help retailers stay in business or risk having empty shops and reduced revenues anyway.
As for Maternity Revolution, we will move with the times and ramp up our online presence. We certainly won't be disappearing anytime soon as I strongly believe we are the best maternity wear store in Australia. As for our showroom in Brendale, only time will tell but let me just say this to the ladies that like to shop in a real store, with real people....USE IT OR LOSE IT!
Bye for now
Lisa
Maternity Revolution
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