Crate and Barrel to Launch Crate & Kids In-Store

Crate and Barrel is relaunching its brand for kids, moving merchandise inside its stores to capture the attention of shoppers even before they consider starting a family. The home furnishings retailer is renaming Land of Nod, which operated five standalone stores and two outlets, as Crate & Kids, according to a report in Bloomberg. Crate & Kids will debut March 7 and be integrated into more than 40 Crate and Barrel stores by early April. Land of Nod was founded in 1996 and acquired by Crate and Barrel in 2001. All Land of Nod stores will be closed by the end of May.

Total Retail's Take: Instead of mourning the closure of the Land of Nod brand, Crate and Barrel is bringing the children's furniture brand in-house, which will likely broaden its customer base — and subsequently sales — in-store. After all, Crate and Barrel has a thriving wedding registry business, so the company sees children as the next phase in many of its customers’ lives. “It was natural to welcome kids into the mix,” Crate and Barrel CEO Neela Montgomery said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg. The move will give customers “the ability to shop and register for everything in one place." As consumers invest in their residences as U.S. home prices rise, Crate and Barrel faces an expanding competitive landscape, from legacy retailers like Williams-Sonoma and Restoration Hardware to Target Corp.’s new home lines and TJX Co.’s HomeGoods chain. Putting the brands under one roof makes the Crate and Barrel brand more competitive in the marketplace.