If you go to a department store, you’ll see the Men’s department, the Women’s department, and the Children’s department. So why do so many stores have a department that’s called simply “Baby”? Grant attributes the non-possessive nomenclature of stores like Baby Gap to tradition in the retail industry. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Baby Department”
Hi, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Daryl from San Diego.
Hi, Daryl. Welcome.
Hi, Daryl.
Thank you. I had a question for you.
All right.
Why is it when I walk into a department store, say Old Navy, for example, I look at the clothing sections and they’re titled men’s, women’s, kids, juniors, missus, and baby?
Why is it baby?
What should it be then?
Babies?
Infant?
Infant.
I would think it seems like all the other ones are plural.
Right.
You know, that’s a really interesting question, Daryl.
I never really thought about it, but…
How many places have you seen that?
I think in recent history, I think Gap, Walmart, Old Navy, definitely in the Old Navy commercials.
They seem to say it a lot.
Huh.
You know, this is really interesting.
I’m looking at the Target.com site, and they have all those categories, too.
And then Baby, you’re right.
Baby.
How weird is that?
It’s almost like baby is its own little category, you know, like the platonic essence of baby.
Yes.
You know?
So you don’t pluralize it.
No.
Why?
Why wouldn’t you?
Is it just tradition?
Oh, Daryl, what are we going to do?
I think we have to go shopping.
Well, I have a theory.
Oh, yeah, is that your solution?
Go shopping?
Bring me back some snow tires.
Oh, you weren’t thinking like that.
I see.
So I have a theory, and I think it’s just tradition.
Seriously.
I mean, retail is a long, long business.
I mean, this business has been around for, I mean, in this form for 100-plus years, right?
Department stores and organizing stuff and knowing that people want to get stuff for a certain kind of person in a certain way.
Like, what’s the reason you go into the store and they have all the perfumes in the front?
So maybe somewhere along the way, somebody figured out that the word baby was more effective instead of infants.
Like, is infants too clinical?
Yes.
Okay, great.
Does babies suggest that somehow that you don’t have any kind of self-control and you’re breeding like rabbits?
I bet our listeners have thoughts about this.
Well, if you work in the retail business, we’d love to hear about it.
We know we have callers all over the place.
Probably somebody’s in purchasing somewhere, right?
Yeah.
Let us know, do you know the history and the reason why stores tend to do it this way?
877-929-9673, or give us the full details and email to words@waywordradio.org.
Darrell, we’ll see what we can do.
Great. I’ll be waiting to answer.
Thanks.
Bye-bye.
