 My gorgeous new Moses basket 
Buy Something For Your Little Nippers!
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Recommendation added: 25/02/2007 14:07
By: dewberry (YSUK rating +700)dewberry has been thanked 1 times for this contribution
"When I'm in another part of the country I like to find an interesting looking shop to buy something to remind me of my visit. I don't mean a fridge magnet or decorative candle, I much prefer something which will be used on a day to day basis and always remind me of when we went to 'such and such' place. A good example is a lip balm I bought from Stratford-upon-Avon last summer which always makes me think of an idyllic couple of days spent at Shakespeare's birthplace. So, what could I find to remind me of a lovely few days in the South East of England?
Baby stuff, that's what. We have a baby due in June, so every shopping trip at the moment seems to be punctuated with a trip into Mothercare or Boots to stock up on baby shopping. When I spotted a store called Nippers in Royston I just had to go and have a browse.
Nippers is a baby store which veers away from the twee 'Mummy's Little Angel' babygrows and bibs with the days of the week embroidered into them (like one bib a day will do…?!) and focuses on the essential items needed for when your little one makes her way into the world. Whether you're looking for the perfect pushchair, a suitable cot mobile or a more mundane item like a steriliser or baby thermometer, Nippers should really be your first port of call if you live locally enough.
The range of stock in this Royston branch is fantastic. The store is loosely laid out so that all products of a similar nature are together, although there's so much stuff packed in that overlaps do happen so make sure you set aside enough time to have a proper look around. The larger items such as nursery furniture and cots have examples of the piece made up for you to look at properly and from all angles, this comes in very handy if you're buying a cot or wardrobe as you can get an accurate idea of how it'll look once installed in baby's room.
As far as I could see the furniture was all reasonably priced and of extremely high quality. Prices range from around £60 for a very basic but decent looking wooden cot up to a gorgeous pine changing unit which cost a whopping £349. This makes the prices sound steep, but the fabulous quality and attractiveness of just about everything I saw makes the cost more than justified. I wasn't looking for anything in this section, but a beautiful Moses basket and stand drew me in – and when I spotted the free pretty bed linen set I just knew I had to buy it. This is true of all of the furniture items in Nippers really; essential baby stuff is given an attractive and sometimes unusual look which means you're likely to be the only person in your circle to have this particular pram toy or a Moses basket in this shade of blue. It gives the shop an exclusive feel.
The prams and pushchairs are arranged in a neat and tidy way, with plenty of space to either side of the display for you to try out the equipment. You're encouraged to have a go at folding the pushchair you're interested in which believe me is a brilliant idea considering how damned complicated the travel systems in particular are to fold up. Nippers stocks a wide range of excellent quality makes of prams including Graco, Britax and many more all at prices similar to if you were to buy the same item from Mothercare or another specialist baby store.
The smaller items you'll need for baby are beautifully arranged in specific sections and everything is very easy to find, with the store itself being extremely simple to browse your way through if you're not looking for anything in particular.
I loved the Accessories section where you can find everything from room thermometers, cot blankets, baby monitors and sterilisers. Again, everything is placed so that you can easily see what you're looking at and all items are visibly priced so there's little chance of getting a nasty shock when you get to the till. Several items have a display model for you to look at and touch so you can be sure you're buying the correct thing for your needs. Prices in this section are on a par with other baby shops, although I suspect you could probably find some of these items cheaper if you're prepared to travel to different shops and/or areas.
The section of Nippers reserved for toys is gorgeous. I immediately fell in love with a musical cot toy which was on one of the shelves dedicated to toys suitable for a newborn baby. All the toys are separated into age groups; with soft musical toys for tiny babies, more robust plastic creations for older babies and even more robust toys for toddlers. Everything is beautifully designed and prices for the toys are very reasonable with smaller items costing less than £10 – although the prices do go up to over £40, but because of the quality and variety of the items these prices are easily the cheapest I've seen while sourcing (and buying!) baby toys.
All in all, I'd definitely recommend a trip to Nippers if you're pregnant or recently had a baby. You could easily get the majority of your baby shopping from here and everything is absolutely gorgeous. To give you an idea of prices, during my visit I bought the Moses basket with stand, two musical cot toys, a Gro Group Egg (super duper room thermometer) and set of newborn baby bottles and my bill came to £154.96 - I'm not sure I could have bought all this any cheaper as they are all top brands and the kind of 'useful' items that any new parent will need.
The store is really well laid out with wide aisles and plenty of room to manoeuvre should you be visiting with your newborn in her pram. Likewise wheelchair access is excellent with the extra wide doors and aisles making life as easy as possible for visitors with mobility problems. Another thing I noticed is how low the shelves are in the shop, meaning if you're in a wheelchair you'll have little or no problems reaching up to grab whatever item you're interested in.
The staff in Nippers are definitely worth a mention. Everyone I encountered was friendly and exceedingly knowledgeable about the items sold in the store and was happy to make recommendations based on information I gave them. While I was browsing along the pram section a lovely lady came up to me and started discussing the merits of particular travel systems – she even asked what type of car we had before making her final recommendation to make sure the system would actually fit in the boot once folded up. Another thing I liked about the staff in here is the fact that they all seemed genuinely interested in my pregnancy, unlike our local branch of Mothercare where the women working in there are only concerned with selling you the most expensive item they can find.
To find Nippers you need to head along the A10 London Road towards Royston, it's not far from the M11 motorway so if you're travelling from further afield (and believe me it's worth it!) it's pretty easily accessible from anywhere in the South of England. The store is open from 10am – 4pm every day of the week, with late night closing on a Thursday at 6pm. Delivery can be arranged for a small fee, which depends on what you need delivered so you'll need to ask in store about the rates.
Nippers
London Road
Shepreth
Royston
Hertfordshire
SG8 6RA
Tel: 01763 269997"
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