Babies never go out of fashion. At least not as far as Marlene Krybus, owner of Marlene’s Just Babies, is concerned. And she should know. For more than 40 years, the self-professed baby furniture and accessories expert has been helping parents choose the best for their babies. “It hasn’t gone out of fashion,” says Marlene with a smile. “People still want to have children.”
Sitting comfortably in a glider/rocker perfect for new parents, Marlene glances around the 3,500-plus-square-foot space like a proud mother who has watched her baby grow from its birth in 1975 into adulthood. “My husband and I sort of fell into this with no real business plan,” explains Marlene with a laugh. “He had a furniture store on Eglinton and times were changing. We decided to close that store and open one with just baby furniture. We saw there was a great potential for a small retail store to survive.”
They started with a small storefront on Dupont at the corner of Clinton Street in the Annex, and by the early 1980s had bought the adjacent two storefronts that developed into the current, filled-to-the-brim Marlene’s Just Babies.