Product Availability on Twitter

We're going to try to get product availability information to consumers faster. I have a Twitter account where I will post updates when I receive them. They'll be kind of random - just product availability for all our different brands and products that are hot topics like: arrivals for Meadowdale Bed Rails, the Dakota Group, Monterey availability, etc. Your retailer is still the best source for information, but we think this may help on specific issues. We'll try it and see if it works. Twitter account: "Cribguy". I know, kind of lame, but all I could think of.

Brookline and Dakota

One consequence of these times is the inability to get really good feedback from our retailing friends about demand. When Brookline and Dakota were introduced at the September 2008 ABC Show (you saw Scott Bennett's post on these), retailers had a chance to order as much as they wanted.  Because of the economic downturn, most retailers didn't order very much- I really don't blame them. HOWEVER a result of not ordering a hot group is a shortage when consumers get a look at the product and WANT IT NOW, IN LARGE QUANTITIES. This reluctance to order Brookline and Dakota resulted in a shortage that may or may not affect consumers with a close due date. Once again, Westwood asks all consumers with a due date within 3 months to check with your retailer about product delivery dates. Some retailers will have plenty; others may not. We are making A LOT more of these two new groups and should be caught up shortly. Thanks for your patience and your support of our company.

Scott Krueger

8th Edition Baby Bargains Book- Westwood Still Wrecking the Grade Curve

So the newest 8th edition of the Baby Bargains book just came out, and we are pleased to see that we still have the highest rating, A. If you haven't seen it before, the book is a ridiculously complete, independent, and detailed guide to just about every product you can buy for a baby. I personally just used it when we were shopping booster seats for our daughter (we went with the Recaro Vivo Lite if you're curious). Only a handful of crib makers can claim an unreserved A rating, and we've had it since we started. A few highlights:

"Quality-wise, Westwood is a good value."

"We also like how transparent the company is- Westwood even posts pictures of their Vietnam factory to their company blog." [Glad you noticed! -ed.]

"...customer service at Westwood is excellent."

Brookline and Dakota Have Left the Building

The first production runs of both Brookline and Dakota are completed and packaged, and have passed final inspection. By the time you read this they will have departed the factory to catch the boat. They should start arriving at stores in around 6 weeks or so.

ABC Intro- Brookline

Our third major intro for ABC is Brookline. This is another large group like Stratton, with big cases and lots of storage. We think the crib is pretty cool- the curved slats give it an interesting transitional look, with a sort of sleigh influence. The crib is tricky to photograph too- looks a lot better in person.

(And again these colors came out weird under the lights in here. This is actually in Virginia Cherry, just like Stratton.)

ABC (Re)Intro- Pacifc

Yep, it's Pacific again. We had a strong response to this group at last year's ABC show, but Stratton went crazy, and with Jonesport launching at the same time, this one had to wait. I took the opportunity to tighten up the design a bit and respond to some feedback from the last time we showed it. We went with smaller cases ("Euro size", like Dakota), thinking that this group will probably do better in cities and urban areas where people don't always have a lot of space.

The crib construction has been refined a bit (and is currently patent pending). We also showed it converted into a bed. This is probably the coolest thing about this crib, and it's hard to grasp without seeing it in front of you. All convertible cribs on the market (that I know of, anyway) use regular bed rails to convert into a normal, fairly tall bed, and almost always fit a full size mattress. We did something a little different. We used low, wide platforms that can fit either a twin or full mattress. If you've ever seen a two year old try to climb out of a normal tall bed, this will make perfect sense. With a twin size mattress in place, there's a nice little step that a little kid can hop right up on (and a perfect place for a parent to sit and read a bedtime story).

Keen eyed observers will also notice that we changed the color (the wood is darker, and there is a lot less white).