Evans locals welcomed a new baby boutique to town, Saturday morning, drawing enough shoppers to make a line outside its Evans Town Park storefront.
Finding baby supplies locally proved an ordeal for Holly and Nathan McBride when they had their third child, with one of the last big box baby stores, Bed, Bath & Beyond’s buybuy Baby, closing its Augusta location in 2023. They realized there was a lack of resources for new parents.
A fortuitous trip to a store in Columbia, S.C. spurred the idea of bringing this convenience back home.
“We were like, ‘This is great. This is what our community needs,’” said Holly McBride. “That way people can go in there, ask questions, not just look and then have to go to Google.”
Noah admits that he hadn’t noticed that other couples and budding families in town were going through the same thing he and Holly were.
“Over the last year, we kind of looked at it and realized there’s a significant void in the market for families,” he said.
The McBrides would go on to examine the industry: contacting brand reps for strollers and baby furniture and looking for ideal store spaces.
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Early last December, Holly went to shop at gift boutique Cudos2u, and found that it had left its Town Park Boulevard location, leaving 2,750 square feet of space available. By the middle of that month, the McBrides had signed the lease, and were moving items in by February and training the store’s staff of nine.
Saturday, at 11 a.m., Cuddles & Carriages opened to an eager crowd, the turnout bolstered by word of mouth, social media and a door giveaway of free baby gloves for the first 50 shoppers.
The new store is suited to both new and seasoned parents. Alongside toys, clothes and hygiene products, the inventory includes essentials such as strollers, bassinets, car seats and highchairs, as well as cribs that convert to full-size beds.
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“A lot of our collections are geared to help families grow,” said Nathan. “Hopefully, for families like us with multiple babies, it’s something you can reuse as you pass it down from kid to kid, because they’re durable, they’re high quality.”
Cuddles & Carriages is located at 400 Town Park Blvd., Ste. 200-300, in Evans. For more information, visit the Facebook page for the store.
Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
