I went! I would say there were maybe 20 moms there and a few dads, I thought it would be a bigger turn out with the offer of a free seat! The free seat was from the britax rep not from cotton babies and he offered any seat not just the boulevard. The women who won choose a boulevard for her 9 month old and it is going to be mailed to her.
The rep was very nice and informative.
He really pushed the boulevard, I wouldn't be surprised if all the moms who were there because they needed a new seat either bought it or the frontier.
He said they are discontinuing the monarch in favor of the frontier because the company feels it is hypocritical to offer these great seats with side impact and have a booster. I don't agree with that decision since plenty of people will need a booster after a 65 seat is outgrown and won't want to pay the price of the frontier. He said they also felt it was hypocritical to have the monarch turn into a backless booster. I don't agree with that either because depending on the car and the child a high back may not work. Jacob is in a backless and I feel fine with it. Oh and I told him about the product selector saying it was okay to put a 1 year old in the monarch and he was pretty much horrified, hopefully it will be fixed! I could just see some parent doing it! Elizabeth is 27 lbs and 21 months old, occurring it it she could ride in it in 3 lbs!
He was also extremely excited about the frontier and brought a prototype with him. Sadly he wouldn't let me try it in my van, I was quite bummed. I was trying to decide if I should drive the van or Brian's car down and took the van just in case the frontier was there even though I feel silly driving the van by myself and the car gets better gas mileage! lol He said it couldn't leave the store because it was a prototype. I really pushed, offered to leave him my driver's license and debit card as assurance that I would bring it back, said he was welcome to come with me, and asked if he could install it, nope no go. I seriously thought about asking if I could bring a seat from the van into the store but I didn't want to risk messing up the pretty wood floors in the store! Jenn will be getting some in a couple of weeks, I'll have to make another trip down there (it was about 35 min for me).
He also said there are other two seats in the works but couldn't tell much about them but said they are awesome and we will be blown away!
He did a great job of pushing extended rear-facing and extended harnessing! Woohoo! A women had a regent and said she wished she knew the frontier was coming out she would have waited. I now feel bad that I didn't let her know that even though they both go to 80 lbs the regent does have taller harness slots. Hopefully she will figure that out feel better about her decision.
I guess my only grip is that he kept saying that you could use the convertibles from birth and I know that wouldn't be safe for the vast majority of newborns. I have pictures of Elizabeth in the decathlon at a week old with the straps 2 inches above her shoulders, maybe I should e-mail them to him? hum.
Jenn remembered me even though I hadn't seen her in forever! She said that I insisted on fixing her infant seat years and years ago! lol I didn't remember that. She also offered me a job once I'm re-certified but it is a bit far and I'd miss my family on the weekends, I'll have to see exactly what she is thinking of and think about it. If I did all the money I made would be spend there!
Awesome diapers, zutano clothes, squeaker shoes, I was in heaven! I was a good girl and only bought diaper liners!
I'm totally going there in the fall when Elizabeth needs new shoes.
