Starting March 22nd until April 8th. 2013, kids have off for the Easter holiday. Two weeks!
(However, don’t quote me on those dates since I don’t have any school aged children yet).
We decided that since some events like baby swimming were canceled for the holidays - we would head to the Jako-o / Haba Outlet in Bad Rodach, Germany.
My first impression of this “adventure” was that there is no direct way to get from Rehau to Bad Rodach. It was single lane roads almost the entire way (Route 173) with lots of slow trucks. Basically, it wasn’t the most relaxing drive. It is easier for folks driving from Erlangen or Nuremberg because they can take Highway 73 almost all the way up to Bad Rodach.
I brought my camera to take pictures and there were so many cute baby photo opportunities, but by the time we got to the store I was pretty exhausted… so I pocketed the camera and just enjoyed the store, time with my friends, and shopping.
The outlet was nice inside, colorful, and there were LOTS of toys. This picture above makes it look pretty spacious, but this was at the grand opening. Since the grand opening they have added lots more merchandise, which is great, but with people, carts, and children the shopping space feels pretty tight.
For shopping they had these roll-able high chairs, which I thought were really cute. Basically they took highchairs and attached a mini shopping basket on the back and put wheels on the bottom. Just flip a regular shopping cart around. The only downside was the size of the basket. It was only big enough to hold my diaper bag and jacket. Which meant there was very little room to add anything that I wanted to buy. But they did also have regular shopping carts with an attachment for your car seat; however, you couldn’t put a toddler / child in there so we couldn’t use the regular shopping carts.
Isaac didn’t really want to sit in a highchair after being in the car… so he headed straight to the shelves for some merchandise unstocking and restocking activities . At one point I felt like I was at a yard sale with a pushy mom waiting to pounce on a toy I had in my hand. The funny thing is that she asked me in English if she could have what I was holding. I had to tell her that I was considering buying it. I don’t think I have ever had that happen to me while I was shopping.
But putting all the minor things aside here are my top favorites from the trip…
7 Reasons to Visit the Jako-o + Haba Outlet:
This was a great place to feed our babies, relax, and {if the weather had been nicer} enjoy the playground right on the other side of that sliding door.
The café pictures are from the grand opening posted on the Jako-o facebook page. Thank goodness they got new tables since the grand opening… see how {comfortable} that guy is on the left. SOOOO glad they got different tables! They actually use these wooden ones in the picture as benches to sit on now. :)
2. The Outdoor Playground (Spielplatz).
I did find a picture of another Jako-o playground in Nuremberg. Just look at this one and then scale it down a bit. Too bad the weather wasn’t nicer and Isaac wasn’t a little older. The main reason for us to come back sometime would be because of the playground.
3. The Indoor Play Areas.
They had a play area downstairs for babies and toddlers. It had a train track play table and a ball track. The upstairs play area was for older kids (I liked it a lot better – plus there was more room for Isaac to actually play – the downstairs area was packed with strollers because there wasn’t any place to “park” them except for in the actual play area space). The upstairs play area had an activity center box (which was good for Isaac), a climbing wall, ropes hanging from the ceiling that were attached to the floor to swing on and climb, a huge rocking horse, and big foam building blocks.
4. Crafts.
They had a section upstairs devoted to crafts and learning products. It is always fun to find craft supplies in Germany, since they don’t really have anything like Michaels or Joann Fabrics. However, I didn’t need anything because I had just ordered some craft supplies from this website – Winkler.de. It is mainly for school supplies, but they have A LOT of craft stuff.
5. Nice Diaper Changing Room.
It would be pretty weird if there wasn’t a place to change diapers – since it is a baby / child toy company. Overall it was a nice room and they seemed to have thought of every amenity. I liked the small port hole in the door so you are able to see if anyone is currently in the room without opening up the door. However, it was a little strange to have port holes in the bathroom doors, but I am sure it is probably a good feature with small children using the bathroom.
6. Good Deals.
As far as I could tell you could get some great deals at the outlet. One website I saw said that the prices were anywhere from 10 to 40% cheaper. It is hard to say how good the deals were for sure because I haven’t been in Germany long enough to compare prices, but 
7. Lots of different products.
It isn’t a huge store, but they had women’s clothing, bathing suits (my friend got a bikini for 6 Euro’s – wow that sounds like a great price!), science experiment kits, craft stuff, dolls, stuffed animals, Legos / Duplo’s, gardening products, playing in the sand stuff, books, music CD’s, DVD’s, kid clothing, outdoor play toys, baby stuf
8. The Shopping Bags.
So this may sound really random, but I love the Jako-o shopping bags. I even have a crafty / creative project in the works using the critters that I cut out of the bag. Hopefully I can share my final craft project with you guys soon. :)
Unfortunately there is a pretty big downside to mention and no it wasn’t the drive home :) although it was another truck infested slow exhausting drive.
The downside was that when I got home the two toys I bought weren’t really {DEALS} and one of the toys I bought was actually broken.
I bought:
- Magnetic Alphabet for the Fridge – 6.95 Euro’s (Amazon.de price 8.90)
- Metallophon - 10.95 Euro’s (Haba online price 17.95).
Turns out the magnets on the alphabet letters are not as strong as I remember having in my set growing up. It might just be another case of reducing manufacturing costs, but keeping the prices the same. It isn’t horrible and they still technically work, but I was a little disappointed that they fall off the fridge with the slightest touch. One review on Amazon.de mentions that the magnets are not strong. Uggh if I had known about the magnets then I wouldn’t have bought these. I guess I could {try} to add additional magnets on the back to fix this.
The C and D notes sound more like C and D Flump. It sounds good as you go up the scale and then you hit C… after that who knows what note you are playing. Of course Isaac likes it because it makes noise, but it won’t work if he actually wants to play an actual song. I tried “oh Susanna” and it was hard to tell that I was actually playing a song – it sounded more like a Chinese hymn. Unfortunately, I can’t drive 260 Km round trip to exchange this toy – maybe I can contact Haba and they will have another suggestion.
Overall the trip was good because we got out of the house, went on an adventure, saw new sights, learned new things, and we have shopping memorabilia.
However, I will wait until the weather is really nice {not sure how long that will take} and Isaac is able to run around and enjoy the outdoor play area before I make another trip.
Also next time I go to Bad Rodach… I should consider going to this refreshing pool first. That way I will be nice and relaxed for the Jak0-0 / Haba outlet shopping.
PS – There are LOTS of other great Jako-o stores in Germany. Click on the map for the locations. The only other Jako-o store I have been to is Erlangen. I enjoy that store because it is inside a nice mall; however, it doesn’t have the kind of play areas that the Outlet in Bad Rodach has going for it.
