time for the economy. New ventures such as the Christmas market last year and the Artisan market are a great way to bring the commu nity and businesses together. Mums and kids form an integral part to the success of local business and you only have to pop into Wilmslow on any weekday to see that they form a large percentage of shoppers in the area.
Here at Mums in the Know we like nothing better than a wander into town with our preschoolers, a trip to the library, sorting a few errands and then a treat at a coffee shop. However, surprisingly, given the number of mums and infants around in the day, the coffee shop is often the stressful part of the day, as there don't seem to be many 'child friendly' places in Wilmslow.
We wondered if we were being a little picky, so we asked a selection of Mums on the street plus our Facebook followers whether they thought the coffee shop scene in Wilmslow was child friendly enough and over 80% said no!
Issues cited by the mums we talked to included the fact that not one cafe in Wilmslow town centre has any area or entertainment dedicated specifically to kids. Several have doors opening directly onto busy main roads. Most are not really spacious enough to accomodate more than a couple of buggies without a struggle and many have an inadequate supply of highchairs. A couple in particular have patrons with laptops who do a lot of huffing and puffing if your child makes any noise above a whisper.
Those of us who used to frequent the fab Fruitcake in Alderley Edge are likely to feel the pain more. Before Waitrose put paid to it all, a coffee with friends was a relaxing and enjoyable experience. A whole side of the cafe was there for the kids- playhouses, books, building blocks and even a big plasma with CBeebies on. Add to this a reasonably priced, healthy childrens menu and a family friendly staff/customer base and we didn't want to leave!
Now obviously there is a premium on space and for many cafes it simply isn't feasible to have a whole area just for the non coffee drinking ankle biters, but surely our coffee scene could be a little more creative on this front?
So we issue a challenge to coffee shop owners in Wilmslow- what can you do to make a Mum's life easier and a child's life fun? If you crack that we guarantee you a stream of very satisfied mums and tot customers.. and we would be very grateful!