Mission and History

All great ideas start with the first few baby steps and none more so than Baby City, a fairy tale that came true!

The Aronoff family arrived almost penniless in Durban in 1975. To make ends meet, Papa Albert Aronoff started out by helping his sister who ran a small baby-clothing store called “Fairy Tales.” Within three months, with almost no command of English but a fantastic trading instinct, Albert and his wife Stella opened their own store in the “Fairy Tales” chain. Right from the start the store was truly a “family business” with son, Michel and daughter, Alice both involved from an early age, in helping out their Mom and Dad.

As the business grew, Michel, by now a qualified chartered accountant, recognized the rapidly changing urban market and the need for a baby hyper store. To match these new consumers and their changing needs, Baby City was conceived with the first store opening in 1992, in Stamford Hill Road, Durban.

The amazing thing about life and any good business is that you never stop growing and learning, this philosophy is evident in the fact that Baby City now with 33 stores countrywide is still moving from strength to strength and is constantly improving its levels of service. The stores are becoming bigger and better, with each passing year and after 26 years the initial concept and ideal is still developing. Baby City has seen many new families through their doors, watching children grow, how their journey begins, how they learn and live. It’s not only just about babies…for the heart of Baby City is firmly rooted in family!

This is the key to Baby City’s success, the fact that no matter how dramatic the growth, the business has been kept in the Aronoff family. Their unquestioning belief in and reliance upon quality and service is a perfect complement to the power and ties of family, and creates a highly successful business environment. The Aronoff’s have an incredible love and dedication for what they do and together they have watched their ‘baby’ grow.

Ask Michel about the magic formula, about the secret to success and he’ll tell you: “We wanted to create a one-stop shop with a decent range of branded products at every day low prices. Our stores also had to have the sort of layout that created a pleasant shopping experience”.
Baby City embraces the ideal that parenthood should be a sweet and simple experience…

So you see, this fairy tale is real, it has a happy ending, it’s about creating something you believe in and love…

Welcome to our world – the Baby City World.