As we wait for news of the name of the new baby Prince, born on Monday 23rd April, we catch up with My 1st Years CEO and Co-Founder Daniel Price, who have a royal connection as Prince George wore their bathrobe when he met Barack Obama.
Daniel explains that My 1st years have launched their new limited edition Royal Range, which is available at my1styears.com and Harrods. As part of the range they have re-designed old classics, including their hugely popular robes, by introducing Limited Edition Purple and Gold thread to give the collection that extra Regal feel. From previous experience they are one retailer who really appreciates the ‘Royal Effect’, and they expect that whichever name the new Royal Baby has, it will surge in popularity in the UK. Daniel Price comments:
I understand that the current favourite names for the new prince are Arthur, Albert and Philip. From our recent research, Philip and Albert don’t yet rank on our popularity list for boys and Arthur is only number 31. George however is number 5, which is no doubt due to this ‘Royal Effect’. I am sure that whichever name the royal couple choose for baby number three, it will soon rise up the baby name charts and make our list for the top 10 most popular names for personalisation at my1styears.com
When a Royal Baby is born, we undoubtedly see a big spike in consumer spending – from their experience, it definitely increases the nation’s spending habits. My 1st Years are expecting this year to be bigger becuase of the Royal Wedding which will follow the birth. The sales and hits they experienced when Prince George wore their Blue Gingham Robe in 2016 was pretty special. Their customers are really loving the Royal Range and overall theme at the moment, as it’s part of their story as a brand too. Other retailers rightly jump on the trend because the country gets excited, and with excitement comes consumer spending.
The My 1st Years Blue Gingham Robe as worn by Prince George when he met Barack Obama, sold out in 7 minutes, and then when available for pre-order sold as many as 1 per second. This is the scale of the impact – the Global impact of this image for My 1st Years was huge and it allowed them to really expand their retail reach Internationally, especially in the US, who just loved the Royal and British connection instantly.