A shop that has helped York mums-to-be for 17 years is to close at the end of the month.
Expecting Mum & Baby was opened in September 2000 by Heather Booth. Moving to York she had been surprised to discover that nowhere in the city sold specialist maternity wear or a proper maternity/nursing bra fitting service.
And her business was born. It moved to its present premises on Gillygate in 2013 and started selling baby clothes and soft toys alongside the maternity wear.
Sarah Faulkner joined the business in 2007. Eleven years on, soon it will be closed for good.
Tough times
Heather and Sarah have posted a message on Facebook saying how much they are going to miss the shop and their customers. They write:
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It is with very great sadness that we must inform you that we have made the decision to close our Gillygate shop at the end of this month.
It’s not a decision we’ve taken lightly: we’ve thought long and hard about it, but due to a combination of some pretty tough times facing the high street retail sector and some significant changes in personal circumstances, we’ve come to the conclusion that –for the foreseeable future at least – it’s the best option for us.
The shop has a closing down sale. But it is not disappearing completely.
They are maintaining the Expecting Mum & Baby website, keeping up the Facebook page and attending relevant fairs.
Many customers took to Facebook to express their sadness at the news, and thanks for the service over the years.
This was typical from Deborah Theaker: “That’s such a shame, it was a wonderful shop. Good luck in your future ventures.”