Where to Buy Baby Equipment
Archived Q&A and Reviews
From: Jena (7/98)
One more thing. A good place to register as well as Target , is Toys R Us . They have everything and most of the time, it's less expensive than Target. They have a HUGE selection of strollers, all the 4-in-1 strollers are sold there and I have several friends that have them and love the Smart Move 4-in-1.
The best hi-end bedding for cribs and cradles are at Darla's and she has them for slightly cheaper than you'll find in other places. Like the Classic Winnie the Pooh and so forth, they have very nice cribs there too. I suggest you check Darlas' out. It's on San Pablo just a mile north of the big GUITAR CENTER. They just moved there to a bigger store.
From: Lucy (7/98)
Berkeley Baby is a new store with very nice owners (their 10 or so month old son is usually in the store with them, so they're very baby friendly), but it is true that it is expensive and the selection is not always that broad.
From: Melanie (6/98)
Update on shopping for baby supplies:
We've just about completed the rounds of must-have-before-baby-arrives shopping (& borrowing). Looking for a place that had a large supply of a wide variety of brands, we checked out Lullaby Lane (650-588-7644)-- made feasible by the fact we had to pick up someone at SFO airport (it's a few minutes away -- on San Bruno Ave). Indeed, it has lots out on display, relatively expensive. We just looked at options there and bought & ordered stuff at Darla's (526-5437), which has moved to 10400 San Pablo Ave. There's also a newly opened store, Berkeley Baby (843-2229) at Shattuck & Ashby, which has nice, but expensive stuff.
Toys R Us has a good selection and the prices are good. Burlington Coat Factory has a somewhat good selection, prices aren't bad. Lots of strollers. You also can fair well with Target , they often put their baby supply on sale. They don't carry alot of brands.
There are several used toy/equipment stores in Berkeley--- Toy Go Round on Solano, Darla's on San Pablo (they tend to have lots of equipment), Tiddlywink's on Gilman (they have mostly clothes, but some equipment), and there's Lillian's on College in Oakland (which just underwent a change of management).
\tWe got a very nice changing table and crib from the add's in the back of Parents Press Magazine .
From: Rose (12/98)
I have had the most frustrating experience with Baby Depot at Burlington Coat Factory in Hayward and I just wanted to let others know. We had placed our order for a crib, changing table and dresser with Baby Depot at Burlington Coat Factory back on September 20. They say it takes 8-12 weeks for the merchandize to come in and they call when you are supposed to pick it up.
This weekend (the 11th week after we had placed the order) I called (not for the first time) to check on the status of our order. No one was able to tell us anything about it but they promised a manager would call us later in the day. Three days later, after much confusion (the message left got was that we were placing a new order, not checking on an old one) someone finally called us back. Apparently our crib and changing table were in, but the dresser (or another one exactly like the one we had ordered?) had come in and been sold! The clerk then said that she would try to find another dresser from one of the other stores but their computers were down so she couldn't tell us if there was one immediately available or if they would have to place another order (which will take another 8-12 weeks?)!!!!! We decided to go and pick up what was there but still have no idea when we will be getting our dresser. The pieces the store gave us probably aren't really ours anyway because the p.o. number on the boxes doesn't match ours. (My guess is that they either lost our order entirely, or they sold our order to someone else and are now giving us someone else's.) And then when we were checking out with the other two items the store manager had the nerve to try to get us to pay for the dresser in advance because he was afraid that (we) would walk out with the dresser without paying for it once it came in!
The lesson we have learned here is that Baby Depot may have great selection and lower/discounted prices on many items, but it is a big mess, and most of the employees don't know what they are doing. I would never recommend that anyone order items from them! If you can't walk out the door with your purchase, it is better to go anywhere else!