Boyfriend Creche- Other Examples (Melbourne & Hull)

• 'Man Creches' as they are more commonly known are found regularly in Australia, with the Ikea store in Sydney creating the first, soon followed by a shopping centre in Melbourne. The creche in Melbourne was only set up during the Christmas period to relieve women of extra stress shopping with their partners entail. 
• The company who set up the creche in Melbourne conducted a survey of 150 men and found out that 'almost half were likely to make up excuses to get out of Christmas shopping, while one in four had faked ill health or injury to avoid joining the annual frenzy of consumerism.' Article reads here. 
• 'The man creche features a two metre-wide video wall, video consoles, comfortable sofas and the stable of man caves everywhere, a pool table. Soniq marketing manager Stathis Georgianos says the man crèche means men no longer need to lie their way out of the annual Christmas shopping trip. “The man crèche is like the ultimate playpen. We have all the gear and gadgets here that most blokes wish they had in their home,” he says.' (Quote from article)
• The man creche set up in Hull was of similar origin. Although predominately aimed at men who want a break from shopping, the Hull man creche is open to anybody. Created in July 2013, the concept included competitions involving Hull football club. "There will be 52in plasma screens and we'll feed the men and keep them occupied before they have to leave. Women like to take their partners along, often to carry their bags or ask for their opinion but this will just give them a little break from shopping". The article (here) doesn't state if men have to be picked up after a certain amount of time like the Ikea concepts.
• The Hull man creche got some consumer feedback regarding the project; 'Bonita Caruana, 25, and her boyfriend Dean Young, 28, of west Hull, approve of the new drop-off zone, although they often like to shop together.
  Bonita said: "I have friends whose boyfriends can get a bit annoying when they are out shopping, it's definitely a good idea for couples. We see women with their partners a lot in St Stephen's and it's definitely worth a try to see if it works."
  Dean said: "The Sky TV and wi-fi sounds great – all they need now is a free bar."

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