Like many parents with youngsters, Kerri Couillard experienced the stress of flying with baby. Bulky strollers and carriers were a necessity she and her family had to carry along with their luggage at a busy airport. Lugging it around, however, was an inconvenience.
When Coulliard's children outgrew the baby gear and needed it less during travels, her garage was filled with unused clutter. Her husband begged her to get rid of the stuff but she decided to establish Babierge in Santa Fe to address two birds with one stone: do away with the items and help traveling parents.
Babierge allows parents flying with baby to rent out strollers, carriers, cribs, high chairs and other equipment from the site so that they won't have to bring their own. Couillard eventually partnered with Match.Com SEO Fran Maier to develop an AirBNB-like gear rental service to serve its growing client base, according to Forbes.
Babierge serves traveling families in the U.S. and Canada with its current 27 operation locations, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Michigan and Chicago, Santa Fe New Mexican reports. The company's trusted partners deliver the baby gear to the families as soon as they arrive at their destination.
"The level of demand and gratitude we see from parents is phenomenal and more than I would have expected," Maier told Forbes. Their patrons are mostly millennial parents but some grandparents have also benefitted from their rental service. Apart from baby equipment, some parents also make use of Babierge to rent out toys or books during family travels.
This AirBnB-like gear rental service, however, is a fairly new market, thus it comes with some kinks and challenges but Couillard and Maier have plans of expansion. They are also working to partner with hotels and car rental companies to streamline their operations. Learn more about Babierge in the video below.
