A Derbyshire mum who launched her first baby shop in Ilkeston less than a decade ago has expanded to open what she believes to be the biggest baby store in the Midlands. Local entrepreneur Kelly Carter has tripled the size of her Little Angels Prams store in Nottingham.
Ilkeston born-and-bred, the mum-of-two opened her first store in Bath Street, in the Erewash town, in 2014. This branch closed down in 2020 following the launch of its flagship store, which opened in the Radford area of Nottingham, in 2019.
Kelly is now celebrating the expansion of her Prospect Street store from 5,000 sq ft to 15,000 sq ft. She can now sell more prams, pushchairs, and car seats thanks to renting the empty premises next door.
READ MORE: Derbyshire mum’s baby shop start-up is now multi-million-pound business
The new area of the store, which features a running track for jogging buggies and a selfie area for parents, welcomed its first customers on Friday, March 3, Kelly’s 35th birthday. The businesswoman explained that she had lost her mum around the time of her 30th birthday and wanted to replace those sad memories with something more positive.
Thanks to the expansion, Kelly has recruited three additional members of staff, taking the total to eight shop staff and five employees at its Ilkeston-based warehouse. The 17,000-square-foot unit on Cossall Industrial Estate was set up to provide additional storage after business boomed during and after lockdown.
Kelly said the Radford expansion came about after the unit owner, who she used to share a car park with, asked if she wanted to take the premises ‘off his hands’, so she had a look inside. Kelly, who is married to Terry, 44, and is mum to Owen, nine, and 12-year-old Connor, said: “It’s an absolutely beautiful building – about 200 years old – and it’s got really stunning period windows and high ceilings.
Ilkeston mum Kelly Carter (centre) poses with staff at the new selfie area for those visiting the recently expanded Little Angels Prams store in Radford, Nottingham. The mum-of-two has recruited three additional members of staff thanks to the expansion. (Image: Little Angels Prams / Poppy PR)
“I was filled with joy and horror at the same time – first of all, I could see its potential, but second of all, it was scary as hell because the roof needed repairing and the place needed gutting. It looked like an absolutely massive job.
“Everyone, including my husband and suppliers, who has seen the scale of the project, was laughing at me and all said it’s impossible to turn this around in eight weeks. But I’m the one having the last laugh.”
Eight weeks on, determined Kelly ensured the extended store was ready to open on time last week, having completed much of the renovation work herself. There is a new section, named ‘double trouble’, which will feature a range of double pushchairs, all-terrains and a graffiti wall displaying designs by Radford-based graffiti artist Kaption1, who created the images on the wall outside Little Angels.
Kelly also plans to hang vintage pushchairs, which she has bought from an antique shop, from the ceiling and there is a selfie area, complete with a throne. She also has plans to add a café to the extension at some point.
Other features of the store will include more car seats and a demo rig, breastfeeding area, customer toilets and for the first time, Kelly will be able to provide full nursery furniture sets, with 16 on display.
Little Angels will be adding the Mee-go brand to its repertoire of stockists, and will now have enough space to display all of the colours in each pushchair stocked – which Kelly believes is the only baby store in the Midlands to do so.
Little Angels’ extension launched on Friday, March 3 with a five-day opening event continuing early this week. There will be offers, fizz and cakes, along with other drinks for pregnant customers.
Want to make sure you don’t miss another shop, restaurant or bar opening? Sign up for the free Derbyshire Live What’s On newsletter here.
READ NEXT
Stay Ahead, Stay Informed: justbabyshop.com Exclusive