Preparing for a first baby can be exciting, but it can also be overwhelming.
There are endless products to compare, conflicting advice online and no shortage of opinions about what’s essential and what isn’t. Despite having more information at their fingertips than any generation before them, many expectant parents still do what people have always done: ask someone they trust.
That instinct is backed by research. The Australian Institute of Family Studies found that family members and friends remain among the most important sources of practical and emotional support for new parents as they navigate pregnancy and early parenthood. In other words, while technology has changed the way parents research products, many still place their greatest trust in the people who have already been through the experience.
That’s how The Memo began.
As the company prepares to open its first Queensland boutique in Fortitude Valley on 17 July, its story can be traced back to an email that quietly made its way from one expectant parent to another.
Whenever someone announced they were having a baby, a friend would often reply, “I’ll send you the memo.”
It wasn’t a catalogue or a shopping guide. It was a list of products that parents had found genuinely useful, refined over time until only the essentials remained.
For co-founder Kate Casey, receiving that list during her first pregnancy changed the way she approached preparing for parenthood.
“Like many other parents, I turned to a friend who’d done it before,” Casey recalled in the company’s published origin story.
The list answered one question but raised another.
“My experience at big box baby retail left me with a lot of questions, but not a lot of answers,” she said. “The only problem? They weren’t all in one place.”
Rather than accepting that as simply the way baby shopping worked, Casey began wondering whether parents really needed to visit multiple retailers just to buy products recommended by people they trusted.
She eventually teamed up with former beauty industry colleague Phoebe Simmonds to build the business they wished had existed when they were preparing for parenthood. The pair had worked together previously in the beauty industry—Casey as a buyer at Myer and Simmonds in marketing at Benefit Cosmetics—and believed there was room for a retailer that simplified, rather than complicated, the experience. The Memo launched in October 2019.
Looking at Baby Retail Differently
From the beginning, the founders wanted to build the business around parents rather than products.
“We’re not a baby retailer, as babies are not our customer. You are,” Simmonds said.
That perspective influenced everything from the range of products to the way information was presented. Instead of offering dozens of similar options, The Memo focused on a curated selection across different budgets and lifestyles, supported by straightforward explanations aimed at people navigating pregnancy and parenthood for the first time.
As the online business grew, customers also wanted the opportunity to see products in person and talk through their options. That led to physical boutiques, where retail is paired with services including gift registry consultations, maternity bra fittings, breast pump advice, hospital bag guidance and pram demonstrations.
Heading North
The Fortitude Valley boutique will become The Memo’s first store in Queensland, joining its existing locations in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. Alongside its range of pregnancy, postpartum and parenting products, the Brisbane store will also offer the personalised consultations and community events that have become part of the company’s retail model.
For Casey and Simmonds, the Brisbane opening marks another step for a business that grew from a practical idea shared between friends.
For local parents, it offers something a little different: a chance to see whether a store built around fewer products, clearer advice and more conversation can make preparing for a baby feel a little less overwhelming.
Published 10-July-2026
