Independent 50 Best Baby Buys

We were very honoured to have our Coromandel baby-changing bag featured recently in the Independent’s 50 Best Baby Buys.  And what esteemed company we were in!  Some of our favourite items are:

1. The fabulous book “Dear Zoo” by Rod Campbell, which is still a firm favourite with my 5 year old!
2. The beautiful Bobby baby blanket, from Danish brand Lucky Boy, made in Bolivia from Alpaca wool.
3. Sophie the Giraffe – a best seller from the 1960’s and still a firm favourite today!
4. The Nomad Travel Bed from Holland that folds flat to fit into a rucksack and weighs less than 2.5kg – amazing!
5. Our friends Jojo Maman Bebe’s ingenious baby wetsuit.
6. Motties slippers, that are hand made from offcuts of leather and other fabric and are elasticated so they are easy to get on and off.
7. And finally, the gorgeous fleece overall from Swedish company Lindex which we think would be perfect for getting out and about in this cold winter weather.

Our customers were right (as usual) – following customer feedback , the development of our new PacaPod Oban changing bag has proved itself as another success.  We were a little nervous about updating our old faithful friend the Logan changing bag, but what a response!

If travelling is on your mind then Oban’s nimble nature at less than 1kg – seems to have been a hit for Australia and New Zealand Magazine along with Jet Away in flight Magazine, extolling its organizational virtues for air travel with babies.

Baby London Magazine have seen fit to offer an Oban as their star letter prize for this month, and in Holland the Oban has been shortlisted for the Baby Stuf Baby Innovation Award for 2013.  We are very honoured.

And, as if that was not enough for the humble Oban, it has also been spotted by the lovely people at Body Fit Magazine who think that not only is it a great baby changing bag but could also be perfect as a gym bag, holdall or air travel bag.

PacaPod owner and designer Jacqueline Waggett has set up home in Devon after falling in love with life by the sea during a family holiday in the area.

Although the decision to leave Manchester wasn’t easy, with a brand new design and development office up and running, plus surfing lessons for the whole family, Jacqueline hasn’t looked back since!

Jacqueline explains; “We only visited Croyde once, fell in love with the area and by the Monday had an offer accepted on a house. It’s still hard to believe the beach and all this gorgeous countryside is on our doorstep. We are settled into the new office in Barnstaple, with a new team and will be recruiting for more staff shortly.  We have new products in development, increasing worldwide distribution - it’s a very exciting time!”

And it appears that the local press, both in PacaPod’s old home and new, are fully behind Jacqueline and her business.

We will certainly miss being down the road from Cheshire Mums Magazine, who have supported PacaPod since our humble beginnings all those years ago…

Jacqueline looks set to become a local celebrity after being featured in the North Devon Journal this week!

As the dark nights draw in and the thick socks and hot chocolate come out (bye-bye beer gardens and barbeques) we’ve found ourselves reflecting on the non-stop press coverage our new PacaPod Firenze bag has attracted this summer.

Distracted by a new office in Devon and busy designing beautiful creations for Spring 2013 we almost missed the Firenze’s moment in the spotlight! In case you did too we’ve created a quick rundown of this fabulous bag’s top mentions in the British media.

The luxurious leather beauty steals the show (and nearly the whole page!) in Now Magazine’s Mum & Baby Special this September

The celeb’s favourite (rumour has it Sienna Miller's got her hands on one!) makes the Lust List in OK Magazine’s little sister Star Magazine

Stylishly selected by popular parenting magazine Gurgle, along with some cracking tartan attire!

And before you start to think the other PacaPod styles have been sitting back and taking it easy this summer, here is the Mirano looking ever so elegant in Junior Magazine!

Now, we love our Mirano bag as much as the next person. But between you and me this popular style is getting a little too big for it’s boots*.

But who can blame it?! Having recently starred in the Independent and Baby & Me Magazine the Mirano's been feeling pretty good about itself.

The icing on the cake came this week in the form of OK! Magazine – turning to page 123 and spotting itself snuggling up to PacaPod fan Jo Whiley was enough to send the once-modest Mirano packing it’s bags and setting off for Hollywood stardom.

Send us a postcard when you get there, Mirano.

* Metaphorical boots. Real boots would be silly

Rain rain rain. We’re so sick of talking about it but we.just.can’t.stop. Much like the rain itself.

With every raindrop that falls directly into our eyes (which by some freak of nature is about 40% of the total annual rainfall) our dreams of escaping to somewhere warm and dry get a little more desperate.

For those of you lucky enough to be hotfooting it out of the UK and jetting off in search of our long lost sun, don’t forget to spend some time on the journey flicking through the in-flight magazine.

We’re very glad one eagle-eyed PacaPod fan did, when she told us she’d seen none other than our Coromandel bag inside Flybe’s Uncovered magazine earlier this year. Luckily for us Flybe publish their magazine online so we were able to see for ourselves – check it out here (the Katy Perry interview’s a good 5 minute distraction too).

N.B. Apologies for being whingey in paragraphs 1 & 2, we've been staring at grey skies for too long!

Last weekend, as we sat soaking up the glorious sunshine, with the smell of barbeque filling the air, our minds drifted to dreams of holidays in far-off locations. For inspiration we turned to the travel section of Sunday’s Independent and lo and behold! We only spotted our very own Mirano!

Sitting merrily amongst some other fab products in the Top 10 Family Travel Gadgets, the Independent has described this classic changing bag as both clever & cunning! Not that we let that kind of talk go to our heads…

Amongst the glossy pages of this month’s Baby & Me magazine we spied our Mirano and Napier changing bags  – the answer to all packing dilemmas this summer!

Our adorable Changer Toy Pod took pride of place in the Mail on Sunday’s You Magazine last weekend, and whilst safety reins aren’t so frequently spotted on tots these days, tester Michelle reckons they’re making a comeback:

“Reins have been a must ever since our happy wanderer of a daughter could walk. Now two and a half, her old reins seem too babyish so this backpack from PacaPod with a lead attached ticks all the boxes. It looks fun, so she loves wearing it”

There’s been such a great reaction to the feature that we’ve already sold out of the Red Leopard and Pink Giraffe Pods! With just the Navy Zebra left make sure you get your orders in quick!

It’s been a busy time for PacaPod in the press this month, with four fab magazines showcasing our top styles!

The Napier Duck Egg (the new favourite this Spring) leads the way in both Gurgle magazine and Prima Baby & Pregnancy, closely followed by the Mink Sequoia in Pregnancy & Birth and the Napier Mocha Melody in Bump 2 Baby magazine. 

We're looking forward to seeing what April holds for us!