Pretty soon, parents won't be able to buy binkies, booster seats or bottles at the BabyCenter Store. Actually, they won't be able to buy anything at all – BabyCenter is closing their online store for good on January 6, 2009.
In other parenting-business news, a company called The Parent Company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Parent Company trades on the NASDAQ under the cute-as-a-button symbol KIDS – or at least they will until January 7, 2009, when they will be de-listed. Among the companies owned by The Parent Company are eToys, BabyUniverse and ePregnancy. From their website: "The Parent Company provides comprehensive eCommerce and eContent resources to help families plan, play and grow." Because if there's one thing families need, it's more eContent resources.
What does all of this mean? Economically, I have no idea. (I managed to avoid Econ 101 in college.) But it is interesting that even Internet retailers are having trouble staying afloat. When brick and mortar stores (aka, "places you actually have to go to in order to buy stuff") go belly up, it's less surprising, since they have to pay, like, rent and stuff. The Interwebs were supposed to be a place where any nudnik with a dream and/or a nightmare could slap up a digital shingle and make millions in mere minutes.
It's not that simple, of course; just ask the web site that lost their shirts offering free shipping of pet food during the dotcom boom. Still, you would think that a site as popular as BabyCenter would want to keep their store alive in some form. Over on DaddyTips.com, I created an Amazon store in about five minutes. There's not a lot there, it's more of a storelet, but it works and I don't have to do anything. Granted, I'm not exactly rolling in dough from my efforts. But if I spent some time designing it, adding products, I might make a few bucks. I know BabyCenter probably liked offering their own eCommerce outlet for their users. But all that inventory, staff, shipping, it's all overhead even if there's no actual store to deal with.
Does this mean the business of parenting and/or the business of selling stuff to parents is on the decline? I doubt it. Parenting is big business. No matter what the state of the economy, if you have kids, they're going to need diapers. And food. And, if they're lucky, the occasional toy. Somebody has to sell it to us, right? Ah, but there are other places to get it. Amazon, of course, will sell you just about anything. (I believe that they will one day sell body parts. You heard it here first.) And The Parent Company isn't gone; they're just taking a little Chapter 11 break. And I'm not mentioning the hundreds of other places that want your money. So maybe BabyCenter wasn't making enough scratch with the store and got tired of competing. Who knows.
One good thing about BabyCenter going bye-bye: everything is on sale, big time. Like, it was $60 and now it's $17.99. That kind of sale. A real, honest to goodness "everything must go, we're selling to the bare, virtual walls" sale. You've got a couple more days, check it out here.
Sources: BabyCenter (also image), NY Times
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