Baby Grand — Attraction in Saint Louis Park

Update:

I was pleased to see the owner had responded to my review, as my wife and I really do want to like the store.. why else go four times ? Anyways, as you can see the response was a long winded self indulgent defensive (condescending) editorial. I was tempted not to respond.. but since the general tone seems to suggest that either my review is not genuine, or perhaps my experience is just not valid at all I figured I would add my two cents (once again). Dear owner, my review is nothing more than my experience and that of my wife. It is not intended to be malicious nor a smear against your business. that said…

You said you take great pride in offering knowledgeable friendly service to your customers every time they enter your store. I’ve been there now four times, this hasn’t been the case in any of those visits (although for what’s its worth we purchased things each time). Maybe a more reflective question for you would be.. HOW are we offering this service to each customer that walks into the store? Looking over your reviews my experience may not be typical but it also hardly seems an anomaly.

The lengthy portion about the pandemic and your employees is confusing. I completely understand how difficult the pandemic was and how it impacted us all in very similar and yet unique ways. I also do not doubt the knowledge base your employees have or their commitment to your store. The excuses provided for why your staff may have ignored us each time we visited tells me my feedback must be falling on deaf ears. You mentioned I may or may not be surprised to learn not all customers want to be helped… this is both funny and confusing. As you would need to greet and ask at least one question before learning if someone wants to be left to browse. As I’ve been in there several times now I think we can both agree this isn’t happening consistently (thus the reason for my well intentioned feedback). This would lead me to believe you’re assuming who wants to be left alone to shop? Also your cash wrap area seems to be the chill spot for staff, none of which were visibly helping other customers any of the times I’ve been.

The last part of your response I found to be the most telling. You mentioned the easiest way to get help while in your store is to approach one of your staff and ask for help. I have also found that to be the most effective way to get help at Target or Home Depot. Find someone in khakis or an orange smock and ask for help. This would mean I am in charge of creating my experience in your store ? Retail management might not be my current area of expertise but I would think that in a small boutique setting that you would want your staff to lead this experience and be the hosts of the party so to speak.

My review is my own. The experience I’ve had each time valid, and frankly telling based on the long winded condescending reply. Had the response acknowledged my experience without calling into question it’s validity or even it’s authenticity there was a chance you could have saved a customer. As it is I will not only not shop there but will make sure to guide all the other new moms and dads we know to also steer clear.

Feedback isn’t the enemy.

My wife and I want to like this store. Someone there obviously cares about the assortment, as they have many cute things. All that said we’ve tried this place 4 times now. Two pre baby and 2 post baby and have found it just as unwelcoming each time. You’re not greeted or acknowledged I remember the first time we went in there my wife and I joked that maybe we looked poor. It’s stopped being a joke. There are many places these days someone can spend their baby dollars and to me if I made the effort to pack the fam in the car and drive out to your store I’m hoping for a small amount of customer service. The wife really likes the brands they carry but I’m pretty sure pacifier or another local store has similar. Will not be going back again (if I...

We visited here a couple months ago on a weekend to check out the car seats. We actually knew which one we wanted- we just had to see if it would fit in our little car well enough to buy it. So basically for this sale (of over $1000 since we were getting 3 Clek seats and some inserts needed for infants), all they had to do was be kind and answer two questions I had, while letting us try the seat in our car for fit.

Sadly, they couldn't do the small requirements we had to buy from their store. I'm glad we could see that the seats fit, since this seat is not available locally, but honestly both my husband and I have never felt so disrespected in our lives. Which is really saying something.

The car seat tech was busy, not helping anyone else, but on the computer. When one of the associates tried to get her to answer questions she didn't answer her well so then the girl tried to elaborate on something she knew nothing about, which I appreciated her trying. When the tech was finally summoned from the computer to help us as we waited (we checked out the rest of the small store with our toddler), she didn't see us right next to that particular car seat, so she told the girl we couldn't be found (really?? The store is like 10 paces front to back) and went back to her important computer work. My husband saw the whole thing and it pissed a normally peace-keeping man off enough to say "yup we're buying online" and take our son out of the store to leave immediately.

I returned the seat we had tried in the car and got my ID back, to which the girl tried halfheartedly to keep us in store by explaining there was a sale for Memorial Day. Meanwhile other people were being attended to, and it seemed we were the ones being ignored even though we had calmly waited and strolled the store, and been there the longest. Actually no one even smiled or said "hi" to us while we were there besides this associate, which was interesting since there were a ton of people working and they weren't all with people- most of them were just chatting to each other.

I am pretty much a full-fledged "buy local" patron and love supporting local businesses in any way I can. Even this I was prepared to buy locally though I knew I could find a better deal online if I tried. But that day we went home and immediately ordered all three seats from an online retailer that wasn't going to treat us as "not enough" with no regrets at all. And we actually are going to probably replace an older, different seat with another Clek, and we'll definitely go with the online server that did what they were supposed to do rather than a terrible local shop that only caters to people that look like them.

It's kinda a shame too, since this kind of place is right up my alley. I had my eye on a wooden plate set they had, and a few other things since I like buying quality items, so I guess I'll just check out The Pacifier and Moss Envy to see if they have them instead. I suggest you do as well! And if you do want to check this place out, maybe make sure you're wearing a designer purse or something so they pay...

Our in store experience is the only reason that this review isn’t one star. We were excited to find a local business that would help us prepare and register for the things we need for our pending child. We were able to try out many gliders and be guided by staff who helped debunk some of the sensational products that aren’t as critical as they were marketed. Unfortunately, the follow through, delivery, and communication of orders is where everything falls apart.

We registered for several large ticket items through Baby Grand only to hear from each individual who was trying to support us that they had awful experiences. We were told by these family members that shipping options felt buried or hidden in conversation as if they were trying to pull a fast one and tack on extra fees. Communication about order status and how delivery would be scheduled/conducted was extremely poor for them. The promises made by Baby Grand employee were repeatedly not kept when it came to being told they would hear back by phone or email.

We can understand and accept a singular instance in which an order didn’t go as planned or that a staff member forgot to give someone a call back. The deep regret and disappointment comes when we hear this exact same story from multiple people who used our registry. Expecting parents put together a registry for everyone’s convenience. This experience has caused us a great deal of guilt and shame as we unfortunately put people in these frustrating shopping exchanges because we put Baby Grand products on our registry. Not wanting to continue to pass that burden on, we have now taken over tracking things down on our final order.

As we near our delivery date, we are still tasked with following up on our outstanding order despite being told we would hear back from employees. If we could do it all over again, we would have had these exact same products delivered by other stores with clear pricing, effective tracking, and an experience that doesn’t put so much onus on those who were generous to gift us items for our baby.

Need a showroom to check things out? This might be a good place to check out.

Looking for a store to add to your registry that isn’t going to add overhead to the pregnancy experience? Baby Grand is...