It’s now a huge high street name but baby store Mamas & Papas started out as a small wholesale business. Wholesale Scout looks at its rise to success.
Considering it’s now worth over £130m it’s hard to believe that high street store Mamas & Papas was once a small wholesale business, and started out with a small boutique shop in Huddersfield.
The brand was set up by husband and wife duo David and Luisa Scacchetti in the 1980’s and, 30 years later, it remains a privately owned family business. The brand was developed after the pair, who were pregnant at the time, spotted a gap in the market for stylish and trendy baby clothes. Department stores seemed to lack variety and so the couple sought inspiration from their heritage in Italy. Shortly after the idea for Mamas & Papas was born.
Their first store was opened in Huddersfield and they began trading as a wholesaler – importing clothes and products and selling them on to retailers. They were supplying unique nursery and baby products at competitive wholesale prices to the sector and so became popular quite quickly.
Over a decade later and the first retail store of Mamas & Papas was opened. Despite becoming a retailer in their own right, the Scacchettis have held onto their wholesale roots and continue to supply to retailers all over the country including John Lewis and Argos.
Despite the majority of the British high street struggling to make sales, Mamas & Papas is still growing. The company has become an international brand with franchise stores across the globe and they now have over 50 stores across the country – and that number looks set to keep increasing.
