Johann and Keisha Bent of New Rochelle look over maternity pamphlets at the first parenting class at Destination Maternity in White Plains.
White Plains Hospital Center is partnering with Philadelphia-based Destination Maternity Corp. to offer educational and exercise programs in-store at The Source in White Plains.
“We were doing a pregnancy fair in March and wanted to do a fashion show with Destination Maternity down the road,” said Joan Carlin-Halpern, director of nursing for maternal-child health at White Plains Hospital Center. “A staff nurse went and spoke to them and it all stemmed from there, since we never knew the partnership existed.”
“We have almost 15 partnerships with hospitals in different areas,” said Rebecca Matthias, president and chief creative officer of Destination Maternity. “White Plains is one of our largest Destination Maternity stores and they were anxious to participate. They didn”™t have the space for these classes at the hospital, so it was a good match.”
White Plains Hospital Center is building on New Beginnings classes, which predominantly centered on parent and sibling education.
“Now is our opportunity to expand on trial classes that have been well-received at the hospital,” Carlin-Halpern said. “We”™ll be offering classes like prenatal yoga, mommy-and-me yoga, breastfeeding basics, daddy bootcamp and free seminars every few months.”
Parenting classes will address health concerns like pain relief and labor options, which will be taught by anesthesiologists.
Matthias said the approximately 10,000-square-foot Destination Maternity store concept stretches beyond maternity wear. “There is a juice bar, a kiddie corral for second-time moms, a relaxation area with TV screens and the Edamame Spa,” Matthias said. “Having a baby is a huge life-stage event and it”™s not just about selling clothes. It”™s about mind, body and spirit.”
Edamame Spas, which offer maternity massage and skincare, are outfitted in-store in larger metropolitan areas, Matthias said.
Matthias predicted the company will see growth in retail numbers as a result of hospital partnerships.
“It”™s one thing to have a store here and a store there, but to combine that with the class offerings, it makes it more of a destination,” she said. “It makes people think, ”˜I have to go there.”™”
Matthias said she has also noticed more interest on the consumer end in what she called “dress up clothes,” an indication of a fashion-forward expecting mother who may delay her exit from the workplace prior to labor.
Destination Maternity owns and operates Motherhood Maternity, A Pea in the Pod and Destination Maternity stores.
There were 1,088 retail locations, including 734 stores, as of March 31, 2009.
Net sales for the month of May decreased by 5.3 percent to $51.3 million from $54.2 million reported in May 2008.
