oh baby! is the area's premier upscale retailer of children's fashion and home furnishings. Our products and services include infant and children's fashion and accessories; bedding and home accessories; furniture, including cribs, beds and case goods; lighting; and interior design services. oh baby! has a carefully curated selection of the very best products available for children from birth through their pre-teen years. We value comfort, style, function, safety, and quality fabrication - in the products we sell and in the home spaces we design. oh baby! is also the flagship source of our own line of handmade clothing, bedding, and home accessories, all designed by owner Mary Lauer. oh baby! brand can now be found in over 700 stores around the world, from Dubai to Rome and San Francisco to the Hamptons.Â
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History
In 1994 (30 years ago!), interior and clothing design maven Mary Lauer opened her first retail store at the Mall of America, featuring handcrafted furniture and intricately hand-painted children’s clothing. As she’s never been one to shy away from a challenge, the tiny shop rapidly and successfully evolved into both oh baby! (a magical children’s clothing and furniture store), and a sister store que será (an interior design and boutique furnishings happy place, previously in Excelsior, Minnesota).
Ever since she was a little girl, Mary has always had a paintbrush, a sewing needle, a wooden spoon, a gardening trowel, or magic wand in her hand. For her, life is a beautiful blank canvas to be imagined, painted, planted, decorated and sprinkled with sparkling fairy dust. After the birth of her darling twin boys in 1990, Mary was inspired to funnel her creativity into creating hand-painted children’s furniture and cute, comfortable children’s clothing that wouldn’t irritate their sensitive skin.
As the demand for her creations grew, so did her businesses. Today, Mary and her husband, Tom, are the owners of the aforementioned extraordinary retail locations in the twin cities (now in Wayzata, Mall of America, and at 50th & France), as well as parents to three busy boys and one small, well-groomed Bichon Poodle named Daisy. Mary also is the designer of her in-house line of children’s clothing, bed linens, and artwork, all of which is designed in Minnesota and has been featured in national and local print publications, as well as television.
In her free time, Mary loves waterskiing, spending time with her family and girlfriends, gardening on a sunshine-filled day, and eating freshly grilled fish tacos prepared by her son, Tyler.