Web site: bellini.com
Bellini pitches itself as the antidote to giant baby superstores. Instead of a cavernous building stacked to the ceiling with baby gear and clueless salespeople, Bellini boutiques are about 3,000 square feet and carry their own in-house line of furniture and accessories. The goal is personal service and a narrow focus on better merchandise. Example: some stores stock nursery accessories made by local artists.
This franchised chain had its heyday in the 80’s and 90’s—during those decades, its business model was selling imported Italian nursery furniture with $700 price tags (about $1100 in today’s dollars).
In the last decade, however, like many independent retailers, Bellini found itself struggling to compete against chains like Buy Buy Baby selling better quality goods and the online world of baby furniture sells such as WayFair and, of course, Amazon. As a result Bellini chain is now down to only 9 remaining stores, most of which are the Northeast as well as Atlanta and Florida. (At its peak, Bellini had 50+ locations.)
One fateful decision: Bellini abandoned its Italian import strategy and now imports most of its furniture from China. Cribs run $700 to $1200. Dressers range from $650 for a simple three drawer to $1300-$1800 for a double dresser. Bellini helpfully points out which furniture items are “celebrity favorites,” or as we refer it, “who cares?”
Delivery takes about ten to 12 weeks on average, although some orders can be filled in just two to three weeks.
Quality of the furniture is good (the company has never had a safety recall) . . . but the real question here is: does Bellini’s customer service justify the price premium? After all, you can buy similar furniture at a Buy Buy Baby or online for 20% to 35% less.
Reviews of Bellini’s stores give an aswer: no, the service doesn’t seem to justify the price. Reviews posted on sites like Yelp have are sharply negative . While we take Yelp reviews with a grain of salt, there is a disturbing pattern there: lousy customer service across several different locations.. Many parents complained about a lack of communication from the chain when it came to delayed or backordered items. Promised delivery dates come and go at Bellini, with nary a word from the store about delays, say parents.
Some of this can be chalked up to being a franchised chain, since each store is independently owned and managed. But if Bellini wants to compete against high-end specialty stores and chains like Buy Buy Baby and Pottery Barn Kids, it can’t be inconsistent. You can’t charge folks $1000 for a crib and then treat them poorly after the sale.
Bottom line: Bellini disappoints. While we understand that some folks are turned off by big-box stores and are attracted to buying from a small boutique, Bellini’s customer service woes prevent us from recommending their boutiques. Rating: C-
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A neighbor on NextDoor has a Bellini Crib for sale with mattress for $50. They say they used it for only 10 nights and are now moving back to the UK and want to get rid of it. Is the product itself safe, built well, etc? OR is it something we should just stay away from.
It would be for the occassional times our grandchildren would stay with us. One will be going into a toddler bed shortly and this crib does convert. Please advise!! Thanks so much!
Yes, that sounds ok—as long as that crib does NOT have a drop side and you have all the parts and there is no damage or missing parts! You will need the assembly instructions as well, to make sure all is good! At $50, that is a good deal since that crib probably cost them $600+. Another factor: how old is the crib? If we are talking about a Bellini crib from the 1990’s, that isn’t something we’d recommend using.