Mothers Share Buying Habits of Childrens Bedroom Furniture

Just two months ago, a group of mothers from three generations (Gen Y, Gen X and Baby Boomer demographics) shared their buying habits with retailers and manufacturers on purchasing childrens bedroom furniture and baby products. This occurred at the fifth annual Kids Today conference in Bonita Springs Florida.

Author and entrepreneur Maria Bailey, an executive in the fields of publishing, marketing, and business development, was the keynote speaker at the conference and a moderator for the panel. Maria Bailey has worked for numerous companies, including Automation USA, AutoNation, Discovery Zone, The Miami Herald, Broward Community College, and McDonald's. Her experience as an executive and the mother of four young children led her to specialize in assisting mothers in balancing their home and work lives. Bailey explained the importance of marketing to mothers of different ages.

Even though there were some differences there were also many similarities. One baby boomer said she found information from other mothers quite useful. She tried shopping for childrens beds and other bedroom sets for her boys baby nursery at a baby boutique or a shop for kid furniture and found it was above her budget. She registered for designer baby bedding at one baby boutique but this particular parent found that shopping at a consignment shop for her boys bedroom furniture was the way to go.


A Gen Y mom used hand-me-down bedroom furniture, rather than shopping at a furniture store for her baby and put the rest of the items that she needed on her gift registry. The items she did not receive as baby gifts she purchased at Target and Kmart. She did however find a lot of her ideas (such as themes for luxury baby bedding) at a boutique. She said she would purchase only bedroom accessories, baby bedding, other items that she thought were original at a boutique or baby shops.

Although most of the parents claimed that they mostly shopped at discount stores, they admittedly would make more extravagant purchases like luxury baby bedding or hard-to-find toys at baby boutiques if there was something they really wanted for there kid. A Gen X mom talked about children strollers. She paid $300 for a stroller because she liked the features. Then a Gen Y mom said she paid about $200 for a hard-to-find toy that retails normally for about $50. She said she bought the toy not only because her son wanted it, but because of the educational value. Parents are willing to spend more money on educational toys.

All moms stressed importance on bedroom furniture that would grow with their children. One baby boomer mom said she was in the process of looking for a bed that would take her toddler through high school. A Gen X mom said she would try to redecorate while keeping in mind that she wanted the d