Men, it's time to leave the shopping to the ladies

AN IKEA IN Australia is the latest store to roll out a man creche, where bored husbands can shirk their shopping responsibilities in favour of playing pool and watching TV.

Mänland, at the Sydney branch, is the latest attempt at making the trend take off. In 2000, Lakeside shopping centre in Essex opened the Flipside creche – mainly a facility for online gaming – during the Christmas shopping period.

The trend in its current form began in Germany in 2003. Women in Hamburg could hand in their partners at a Maenner- garten. The men could play with remote-controlled cars or take a drilling workshop.

In the UK, Marks & Spencer led the way with the concept on a wider scale in 2004, opening male creches in six of its stores in the run-up to Christmas. Peter Jones, in Chelsea, followed suit last Christmas, opening a pop-up creche with sofas and beer.

The man creche is seen as an extension of the “boyfriend chair” that sits outside many dressing rooms. Presumably, woman creches are just around the corner for male domains such as DIY stores and car showrooms. Or maybe not.