UK Mothercare – Boots

Mothercare is a British store and online retailer of products for expecting mothers and general child/baby merchandise. It was founded by two very interesting characters James Michael Goldsmith an Anglo French international financier and Selim Zilkha a jewish Iraqi born British businessman. James Goldsmith was not involved for very long and Selim carried the business on to become a very successful chain. They developed the concept of a one stop maternity and child store chain which became Mothercare. This is where shoppers could find everything needed for parents, babies and mothers-to-be all under one roof. The very first store was opened in Kingston, Surrey, London in September 1961. At first the focus was on prams, pushchairs, nursery furniture and pregnancy clothing. This soon grew into a full range of merchandise that included car seats, maternity wear and clothing for children up to eight years of age. Mothercare as had its fair share of expansions including a merger with Habitat and British Home Stores. Today Mothercare has shops in over 50 countries including franchises in the Middle East and Africa. They have a strong multi channel presence from the high street to mail order catalogue and a great website for online shopping. Like many historic stores Mothercare is facing challenging times and continues to reconstruct in the face of modern shopping techniques.