Nuna, a favorite among millennial parents, opens a new showroom that will double as a content hub

Store of the Future // July 1, 2026 Nuna, a favorite among millennial parents, opens a new showroom that will double as a content hub By Melissa Daniels Luxury baby gear brand Nuna is opening its brand-new flagship store near its headquarters in Portland, Oregon, a move that underscores how brands are using physical retail to fuel content and product strategies.

The store opens this week at Bridgeport Village, a shopping mall that’s located in an affluent part of the greater Portland area. The open-air lifestyle center is also home to trendy premium brands like Tecovas and Salt & Straw, with a new Warby Parker that just opened in June.

The opening marks a milestone for a brand that’s become one of the most popular luxury baby brands among millennial and Gen Z parents; it makes the most-registered-for car seat on Babylist, and about one in five parents said in a recent Babylist survey that Nuna was their favorite car seat brand.

Global chief marketing and growth officer Austin Hodges said sales aren’t the only goal: The showroom will also play a key role in informing future brand strategy and fueling content creation. It’s located about 10 miles from the brand’s headquarters across the Washington state line.

The showroom-style store will carry car seats, strollers, play yards and more, as well as the brand’s new wardrobe collections. “We can shoot content out of the store to help better educate consumers in real time [based on] the questions they have,” Hodges said.

“We have a lot of very highly produced, beautiful content, but what people are looking for when they’re in that exploratory research phase is more like: ‘Let’s break down the difference between these strollers,’ or ‘What’s the next car seat that you get?'”

The new Nuna store underscores how some direct-to-consumer brands are using their investment in physical expansion not just as points of sale, but also as content studios, consumer research labs and new marketing channels. Bay Area-based handbag and accessories brand Parker Thatch remodeled its strip-mall shop to better accommodate weekly live streams.

Fragrance and candle company Ranger Station opened up its third storefront in Charleston, where it hopes to drive brand awareness with tourists by being in a high-traffic shopping area. David’s Bridal frequently has associates create content from stores for its TikTok and Instagram, whether showcasing new collections or jumping on aesthetic trends.

Nuna, a privately owned company, launched in the Netherlands in 2007. While it began selling in the U. S. around 2012, it gained more traction after opening a distribution center in Vancouver in 2021.

Known for its emphasis on sleek Dutch design and safety-first engineering, it’s grown into a leading baby-gear brand, based on rankings and reviews from outlets like Wirecutter and Babylist.

Nuna’s move to owned retail is also somewhat unique in the baby category, where brands that sell high-ticket, bulky items are finding new ways to get in front of customers since Buy Buy Baby’s closure in 2023. Some of Nuna’s competitors have gone the big-box route to reach more customers in person.

Uppababy, Stokke and Doona recently landed at Target when the retailer expanded its assortment to include more premium and luxury brands. Babylist, a registry service, content hub and online marketplace, is opening its second showroom in New York City later this year.

Nuna’s new location has been in the works for about two and a half years, Hodges said, following the opening of a San Diego showroom in January 2025. Beyond its baby gear, the Bridgeport Village store will emphasize Nuna’s sister brand for pet travel gear, Tavo, to appeal to parents of non-human children.

In-store amenities will include appointments, installation help and next-day delivery setup. Hodges said Nuna has been intentionally measured about its physical footprint because it wants to keep a close eye on the selling experience.

While it does sell wholesale through retail partners like Nordstrom and Pottery Barn Kids, he said in-person sales aim to be high-touch and expert-led. “We want to be able to train sales members on the ins and outs of our product, how to communicate it to the consumers, what’s the best fit for them, and everything in between.

We take that experience very, very seriously,” he said. “That’s a huge reason why we have not chosen to open up a series of stores — because we wanted to make sure we can provide that experience.”

Mark Bateman, executive managing director of JLL’s Retail Solutions Group, said the brands having the most traction with store openings tend to focus on products that are part of day-to-day life, whether furniture, eyeglasses or strollers. For instance, Wayfair’s lu