‘It makes zero sense’: Mums confused over Big W’s change to kids’ clothes

"I know where I won’t be shopping," one shopper insisted. Have you noticed the change yet? 

Loyal shoppers at Big W have been turned off the popular chain because of an in-store change they describe as “messy” and “chaotic”.

The bargain retailer has changed the children's clothing floor layout and it’s sending mums into a spin.

Shopping for kids clothes with toddlers or babies in tow can already feel like a marathon, and parents say it’s been made worse by the new design.

“The current layout forces me to hunt for items… It’s exhausting and frustrating, and it detracts from the simple joy of shopping,” mum Purieh Alonzo told Kidspot.

“Because of this, I'd rather just go shop somewhere else.”

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Boys and girls clothing are now merged in some stores. Image: Supplied

Big W moves gendered clothes together

It appears from looking in store and commentary online that Big W has redesigned its children’s clothing shelves based on sizing, rather than separating both size and gender.

Many stores have all size 1-7 together, and 8-16 together, without clear sections for ‘boys’ or ‘girls’ clothes as previously used.

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“I thought it was strange”

When Mum Bec Arnold shared in the Big W Mums Facebook page, that she thought the configuration was “horrible” her post attracted 220 comments, with most in agreement.

“I think it's a mess now,” Bec told Kidspot. “The layout is time-wasting for busy mums and dads. It’s so confusing.”

“I would not have thought it was arranged by sizing. I thought it was strange that right in the middle of the boys clothing there was a rack of very girly dresses.”

Ms Alonzo agrees, saying “every minute counts” for busy parents when shopping.

“When I visit any Big W store, I know exactly where to find what I need,” she said. “However, recent changes have made this process much more challenging. Items are mixed together, turning a straightforward shopping trip into a treasure hunt.

“Now, if I need boys' clothes, I find myself sifting through girls' clothing, wasting valuable time that I can’t afford to lose.”

Some shoppers have a real problem with the change at Big W. Image: Supplied

Store has mixture of genders

In one Sydney Big W store, the junior section had a combination of stereotypical boys and girls T-shirts on one rack, with car, butterfly and dinosaur styles together.

The junior ‘special occasion’ section had floral overalls next to collared shirts, while toddler rompers with tulle and frills were next to onesies with diggers and sharks.

On a wall there was sequined skirts next to boy’s swimwear.

A mum online blamed customers for the change, “You didn’t want ‘girls’ and ‘boys’ sections so this is what you get”.

Some parents were bemused by the outrage, saying the layout is straightforward; “It's split into small kid sizes and big kid sizes to make it easier to shop”.

Others defended putting all styles together, because “kid’s clothes are kid’s clothes.”

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“It makes zero sense”

However most of the complaints on Bec’s post weren’t about gender – the frustration was about shopping being difficult to navigate, with one calling a recent trip “chaotic”.

“It had no flow whatsoever,” Bec said. “(My child) had a loud shirt day and I looked aimlessly everywhere. When someone said its by size, I laughed to myself as that is not the impression I got.”

Another mum said it took her “20 minutes longer” to find what she needed because it was “all over the place”.

A shopper shared, “I hate it. My girls often wore ‘boy’s clothes’ as they liked dinosaurs, and never liked the girly things... But at least I knew where to find them.”

A third customer agreed: “Glad I'm not the only one who noticed this. It makes zero sense.”

Loyal shoppers at Big W have been turned off the popular chain. Image: Supplied

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Where are all the boy’s clothes?

One of the biggest criticisms was the layout made it blindingly obvious how limited options are for conventional boys’ items.

A Big W customer said, “I don’t want to wade through the hundreds of girls racks to find the few boys”, and another said, “It makes it a lot more difficult to find boy clothes amongst the extortionate number of girls.”

While another mum shared, “It’s horrendous, now you have to find boy’s clothes among the mountains of girl’s clothes.”

Kidspot has contacted Big W, who confirmed the change to their store layout and explained the reason behind the decision. 

"We have recently changed our navigational signage in some stores to make it easier for families to shop for kids' clothing. Our kids' clothes are still ranged by gender, but we have introduced age groups so a customer who is looking for clothes for a 1-7 year old, can look in one place," a spokesperson for the store said. 

"We made this change as a result of customer feedback on their preferred ways to shop. We are always listening and learning and continue to welcome feedback."

Originally published as ‘It makes zero sense’: Mums confused over Big W’s change to kids’ clothes