australia has a sophisticated retail market, according to ceo and president of bunnies by the bay, jeanne-ming hayes, who visited melbourne to meet with her distributors and see the first copies of her brand’s storybooks.
the united states based hayes was full of praise for local shops which have just started to sell the baby products after a one year myer exclusive ended.
“based on what i saw it’s a very sophisticated retail market when compared to the us,” she says.
“it’s not a secret around the world the us economy is in a bit of a pickle and so the specialty retailers seem to be really struggling.
“the stores i saw in melbourne particularly were beautifully done and very specialised… our range works beautifully in that and i just thought that the level of display was really top notch. i was quite impressed.”
hayes spent time with bunnies by the bay’s australian distributors jasnor, who discovered the company at a hong kong trade fair about two years ago. she’s thrilled with the work they’ve done and the business advice they’ve given her company.
“they are now our largest international distributor and they’re very important to bunnies by the bay and we think that they tell our story well.
“i jokingly tell them i steal their ideas because they’re just so experienced at it [with] their strategies and how they pick the assortment. if there’s an item in the assortment that jasnor doesn’t pick i tell my staff ‘oh it’s probably going to be a dud’ because if jasnor doesn’t like it it’s not going to work,” she explains.
bunnies by the bay was started by chance when hayes offered some direction in new york city to sisters krystal and suzanne. their story of using sewing and creativity to cope with the loss of their father and three other family members in two separate boat accidents off the coast of alaska inspired hayes who took them under her wing and re-launched the company.
products include the buddy blanket and plush toys which were on display to general retailers for the first time in australia at the melbourne august gift fair. the response exceeded hayes expectations. she believes there are four reasons why buyers were attracted to the brand.
“it’s sweet, traditional, it’s attractive, it’s super soft and high quality and it’s beautifully merchandised together,” she says.
the bunnies by the bay characters such as blossom and bloom are now incorporated into books published in australia. five mile press beat out several overseas companies to create the books and hayes was overwhelmed by the way the stories look on the page.
“i was there [in melbourne] to look them over and nearly cried with a dream come true to finally see your work printed and published.”
the books will hit the shelves in the next few weeks and the rest of the world shortly after.
