Dear Andrea,

 

We are sorry to hear you have had an unwelcoming experience at one of our stores. We are a franchised business with all stores being independently owned, and run by the owner’s often with manager’s to assist.

 

As a brand we pride ourselves on customer service and a warm welcome, and have followed up with the stores in Newcastle as a result of your complaint. As a company O’Brien’s suggested best practice for welcoming and acknowledging the mother and baby/young children group, includes being open to breastfeeding. Many of our stores across the country have soft seating areas frequently uses by mother baby/toddler groups throughout the week – where not only is breast feeding happily and positively acknowledged, but also baby changing facilities and water to heat baby bottles are available.

 

Breastfeeding in our stores cannot be enforced by O’Briens as the franchisor.

 

We wish you all the best for your campaign in Newcastle, and kindly request you treat this as a local and independent store issue and remove O’Briens from the blacklist.

Kind Regards,
Kerry McClarkin

 

 

Hello again –

I’m re-sending you the email I wrote you on July 6^th. I didn’t receive a response, which is a shame, as I’d hoped your company would take some steps to rectify matters. Given that I mentioned in the email that I run an online breastfeeding directory, I would have thought that even if you yourself are not enthusiastic about breastfeeding, you would recognize that this is an important public relations opportunity, and respond accordingly. The relevant web entry is at http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/shemilt/blog.html#obriens1.

 

Regards,

Andre Shemilt

 

 

 

Hello there,

I’m writing in hope that your company has a better attitude towards breastfeeding mothers than the staff at a particular location of O’Brien’s. 

 

The location in question is in Newcastle upon Tyne, at the corner of Grainger Street and Westgate Road.

 

Tired from a shopping expedition, I went into the café with my 6-month old baby, to get a bite to eat and have a rest. Before ordering, I asked the woman behind the counter the policy on breastfeeding, and she grimaced before replying “well, we wouldn’t stop you” (not encouraging or friendly!). Since I’m compiling a directory of breastfeeding-friendly cafes in Newcastle, I nonetheless asked if they wanted a UNICEF “breastfeeding welcome” sticker (I distribute these as part of my work). The woman grimaced again, and called to the manager who was sitting at one of the tables in the café, asking him if they wanted a sticker. He looked up, looked at me and looked down again without speaking, shaking his head no, dismissively. I left the café without making any purchase.

 

I understand that some old-fashioned shop owners and managers might be worried about encouraging breastfeeding. If you are behind the times, you might feel that it would worry other customers, however there was no need whatsoever for these staff members to be so rude about the issue. You will find your chain entered in my website’s blacklist.

 

I do hope that as a company, O’Brien’s is more forward-thinking and progressive than the two employees I encountered. It’s worth remembering that even if breastfeeding isn’t something staff are personally enthusiastic about, having a positive attitude is beneficial to the company as a whole:

 

• Breastfeeding mothers need to take breaks regularly through the day to sit down and feed their babies. They like to use cafes for this purpose.
• Mothers of new babies spend a lot of time out and about, stopping in cafes often - they are a significant part of the daytime non-rush clientele.;
• By encouraging breastfeeding you are encouraging these women to begin the habit of visiting your establishments.
• By encouraging breastfeeding you benefit from a positive social image.
• By encouraging breastfeeding you are contributing to the health and wellbeing of the next generation.

 

Honestly, I’m surprised and disappointed. Many other chains have subscribed to a breastfeeding-friendly policy. Why not O’Brien’s?

 

Regards,

Andrea Shemilt.

 

Newcastle Breastfeeding Resource

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/shemilt/breastfeeding_Newcastle.html