Oh, baby!

By Naperville Magazine
November 2020 View more Shop

By Emma Jackson

The perfect gift for the new mom or baby in your life is right around the corner, now that Geneva’s rustic chic baby store, Little Barn Baby, has opened in downtown Naperville (123 S. Washington St., littlebarnbaby.com). As a sister store to the home decor boutique Little Red Barn Door, Little Barn Baby sells baby, children’s, and moms-to-be clothing, plus decor and toys.

Owner Sylvia Torres had found success in the Geneva area with her first store, Little Red Barn Door, which opened in December 2017, and recently opened a second home store. They’re both located inside the Berry House in Geneva. The baby section was so popular that she opened a boutique just for baby items in December 2019. “We carried a small selection of baby gifts inside the shop, and our customers kept asking for more,” Torres says. “When the opportunity came available to open Little Barn Baby within the same block as Little Red Barn Door, we decided it was a sign to expand.”

With clothing ranging in sizes from newborn through 5T, art prints, books, feeding essentials like wooden plates and utensils, furniture, toys, hooded towels, and more, Little Barn Baby offers an array of unique gifts. Many of the items encourage positivity and well-being—like Slumberkins, which help ease kids’ stress and anxiety with a stuffed animal paired with a book about topics like emotions and problem solving and an affirmation card—and items from Bella Tunno, which just came out with a new kindness line of teethers and bibs with sayings like “Kindness is cool” and “Choose joy.”

After searching for the right place to open her second baby store, Torres says she jumped on the opportunity right away when she heard the former Marbles the Brain Store space in downtown Naperville was available. The Naperville store is even bigger than the Geneva store and has a space where kids can play while parents shop.

Torres works with many local artisans to sell their goods in both Little Barn Baby and Little Red Barn Door. The handmade bibs from Jennifer Kaye and reading pillows from Desmond Brown Design are a couple of the items made local, and the Itzy Ritzy teethers and accessories are made in Naperville.

The Naperville store also includes a small selection of Little Red Barn Door items in a Gifts for Mom section, such as plants, mugs, and vases. After receiving many requests for welcome-baby gift baskets, Little Barn Baby will soon launch a gift box collection that will include some baby gift favorites and something special for the parents. Since many of the items are made locally, they are typically not found at bigger baby stores or Amazon. “We have a curated selection of items that we have handpicked based on each brand’s story, and we love being able to provide a space where the community can find a unique gift for a loved one,” Torres says.

Photos by Jennifer Kaye Photography