Founded in 1961 in the United Kingdom, it is a professional retailer focusing on serving expectant mothers, babies and children under the age of eight, and a maternity and baby brand trusted by fashionable mothers
The mothercare group is mainly composed of two prominent retail brands with international influence, mothercare and early learning centre. The Group's brand operations are mainly through three different market channels, namely UK stores, direct sales (internet or catalogue mail order for homes and stores) and international business, i.e. retail business under the Group's franchise (or in joint ventures) under the mothercare and Early Learning Centre brands in overseas markets.
The mothercare and Early Learning Centre brands are unanimously endorsed by children and parents alike. Both brands are known for their uniqueness, quality, safety, and innovation, providing products and services to mothers, expectant mothers, infants, and toddlers. Both brands are committed to providing customers with a multi-channel shopping environment through retail stores, mailing catalogues and the Internet, so that parents can meet their children's needs and desires on a global scale.
In order to anticipate and meet the needs of our customers around the world, we sell products from all over the world. We are able to do this thanks to our staff in the countries where we operate. The Group is headquartered in the United Kingdom. In order to better understand the needs of our customers and provide better services, we have invested a lot of resources in sourcing and supply chain operations in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangalore, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Our sourcing team works with manufacturers to develop innovative products, our supply chain partners help us deliver goods through storage warehouses around the world, and ultimately, our retail and customer teams provide professional service to each customer. This professional background and service set us apart from the competition and thus enhanced the mothercare and Early Learning Centre brands.
Mothercare is a specialist retailer focused on serving expectant mothers, babies and children under the age of eight. Initially involved baby strollers, nursery furniture and maternity wear, it began to expand its business from children's clothing for children up to five years old to children's clothing for eight years old. Today, the Mothercare brand operates a retail business in the UK and an international franchise business in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East, covering a wide range of maternity and children's clothing, furniture, homewares, bedding, feeding products, bath products, travel equipment and toys.
The company began its mail-order business in 1962. In 1972, mothercare went public, and in 1982 it merged with the retailer chain Habitat to form Habitat mothercare Inc. In 1984, Mothercare began to develop its international business, using a franchise approach to selectively do business with partners in a number of countries. In 1986, Habitat mothercare plc merged with British Home Stores plc. Since the 90s, the combined group has been rationalized. In 2000, Mothercare became the sole brand of the company and the name of the holding company was changed to Mothercare S.A. In June 2007, the Group acquired Chelsea Stores Holdings Limited, owner of the Early Learning Centre (ELC) brand.
ELC was originally established in 1974 as a mail-order business for toys and books with educational content. In the same year, ELC's first retail store opened in Reading. In 1985, ELC was acquired by John Menzies S.p.A., and the company continued to expand into a well-known mass brand. In September 2001, ELC began streamlining its operations, exiting unprofitable product categories and stores, and increasing sales in Asia.
