Business & Tech

With Lullaby Lane Gone, Baby World Set to Move In to Fill Baby Store Void

The baby furniture store, which started in Oakland, will be the business's second location in the Bay Area.

has almost felt surreal, with its blue- and white-striped facade and its old-fashioned sidewalk kiddie pony ride the only remnants left of the iconic downtown baby store.

But at least the history of a baby store in that location on San Mateo Avenue will still live on when a new business opens in the old store soon.

Baby World, which similarly to Lullaby Lane sells baby furniture and other items, is planning to move in to the main storefront at 556 San Mateo Ave.

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Once open, the new store is looking to spread its philosophy of family-friendly customer service to San Bruno shoppers, just like Lullaby Lane did for decades.

“We’ve been strong in spite of the bad economy because we really, really focus on customer service—one by one,” said Baby World co-owner Cristina Cabello.

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Baby World’s store in downtown will be the business's second shop in the Bay Area. The business has been operating in Oakland since 1983, when Cabello and her husband, Aldo, opened the store after Cristina was looking for something to do to keep her growing family of three young daughters active.

“I didn’t want to leave my baby all day long,” Cabello said of her youngest daughter, who had just been born at the time. “And I couldn’t afford not to work.”

The family spirit that built the store helped the business grow to what it is now in its 6,000-square-foot location on Telegraph Avenue.

When she heard about Lullaby Lane closing down—a result of competition with online shopping coupled with a stagnant economy—Cabello said, she realized there was still a need in the San Bruno area for families looking to buy quality baby gear.

Once she talked with Barry Gevertz, the owner of Lullaby Lane, Cabello said she saw the similarities between the two stores.

Cabello said customers will even be pleasantly surprised to find some of the same services offered, including breastfeeding and stroller safety classes—services that Baby World has been offering for years at its Oakland store.

For San Mateo Avenue, the anticipation of another business opening is welcome news, especially since the downtown area has been suffering economically for years and has been left with numerous vacant storefronts recently.

For , a maternity consignment store just down the street from where Lullaby Lane used to be, a new baby store to replace the old one actually compliments the business, said Beth O’Connor, the owner of the store.

Whereas Lullaby Lane specialized in selling high-end furniture and baby gear, customers could stroll over to Lovely Bump to peruse its racks of slightly used baby clothes.

O’Connor referred to her store, Lullaby Lane and as “the triangle” on San Mateo Avenue because patrons would usually make their rounds to all three businesses on frequent trips to downtown.

O’Connor said she looks forward to that same symmetry being revived.

“I’m sad they’re gone, but I’m psyched about (Baby World) coming in,” she said.

Baby World is expected to open in its new location around the beginning of May.

For more information about Baby World, visit www.babyworldonline.net.


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