bassett benbrookeWeb site: bassettbaby.com

BassettBaby is part of the Bassett adult furniture company that traces its roots back to 1902 when the company marketed its dressers for $4.75 and beds for $1.50.

The company used to employ 10,000 people in Virginia churning out all sorts of furniture. It peaked in the 80’s. A flood of low-cost Asian imported furniture changed Bassett’s fortunes.

Today most of the Virginia plants have shuttered and the nursery furniture is imported from Asia.

BassettBaby has gone through more strategies in the baby nursery market than Spinal Tap has drummers. For a while, the company targeted the entry-level market with cribs sold under the First Choice brand at Walmart and online.

Then BassettBaby switched horses and launched the Bassettbaby Premier line at BuyBuyBaby in the mid price point ($400 to $600) as well as private label offerings at Restoration Hardware (some of which are close to $1000) and under the licensed moniker HGTV Home.

In the past year, BassettBaby has re-entered e-commerce with a line of cribs sold at Amazon for $500 to $600. The dressers are similar in price point, but require assembly.

Why all the brand changes? Well, we wonder if it has to do with BassettBaby’s somewhat odd relationship with its parent, Bassett. For some reason, Bassett treats Bassettbaby like a red-headed stepchild. How so? Well pull up Bassett’s web site and see if you can find BassettBaby.

That’s right, there is no mention of BassettBaby there—the brand buries the nursery collection in a tab on bedroom. So not only does BassettBaby not have it it’s own stand-alone site, it is virtually hidden on Bassett’s web site. Odd.

Ditto for the Bassett Home Furnishings stores, which number 100+ across the country. These stores stock all sorts of Bassett’s offerings . . . but you won’t find any nursery items there.

BassettBaby’s nursery furniture is made in Vietnam, although the glider rockers are made in Texas. The company says its quality control is better than other brands because it has a dedicated team in Vietnam to handle problems.

We viewed Bassett’s recent offerings at a Buy Buy Baby in Texas. We liked the cedar lined bottom drawers for the dressers and the overall quality for the cribs was good. What’s missing? Soft-touch glides on the dresser drawers. . . which you’d typically see at these price points.

Bassett’s key selling point is their finishes, which are direct from the latest styles in the adult furniture world. That’s true, but many other nursery brands have similar offerings.

As far as style goes, the brand is mostly known for traditional styling with touches of bling . . . but in recent years, the company has experimented with more modern looks. (See Restoration Hardware’s review for a discussion of Bassett’s cribs made for that chain).

Overall, we like Bassett’s quality and the reader feedback is positive. We would say the company has improved over the last few years and we liked the expanded choices to order online.  Rating: B+