What began as a website selling baby slings and cloth diapers is now 10 years old! Yes, we outgrew our living room and our first tiny store that was open three days a week and closed during nap-time. We then outgrew our new store, which we doubled in 2005. It's hard to believe our daughter (our Peapod) is now 12 and that we've been helping parents wear their babies, pick the right birthday gift, and running our business for 10 years!
Our store, Peapods Natural Toys & Baby Care, is an alternative toy and baby supply store. We offer a huge selection of great products. We offer baby slings, cloth diapers and wraps, wooden toys, puzzles, silk toys, dress up wear, stuffed animals, finger puppets, dolls, dollhouses, toy trains, and a lot more really really neat stuff. Everything is made of natural woods and fibers--no batteries, plastic or vinyl toys at all.
We offer in our store a baby gift registry and and a 10% discount for educators who buy for classroom use. And, gift wrapping in our store is always free.
Duncan, Gus, and the Learning Tower in 2005. Photo by Renee Lepreau
Peapods Natural Toys & Babycare
251 Snelling Avenue SouthSt. Paul, MN 55105
From the Eastern Suburbs, head west on 1-94 to Snelling Avenue. Go 1 mile south of I-94 to Snelling & St. Clair (5 blocks south of Grand Avenue).
From the Southeastern Suburbs (Eagan, etc.), take I-35E north to Ayd Mill Road. Follow Ayd Mill Road to St. Clair. Head west on St. Clair about 1 mile until you reach Snelling Avenue.
From the Southern and Southwestern Suburbs (Bloomington, Eden Prairie, etc.), take I-494 east to Highway 5. Follow Highway 5 past the airport and across the Mississippi River, where it turns into West 7th Street. Go about 1/2 mile until you see a road winding down out of a wooded area on the left. That's Snelling Avenue. Turn left on Snelling and go about 1 mile to St. Clair.
We are in the same building as the St. Clair Broiler, a family restaurant with a big neon sign that you can't miss.
| Millie Adelsheim and Dan Marshall, parents of Abby, Riley, and Duncan, began Peapods as a home-based family business in Northeast Minneapolis, Minnesota. At first, we just sold baby slings and a few toys. In February, 1999, we opened our real-world store on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. We moved a year later to our much bigger store at Snelling & St. Clair in St. Paul, near Macalester College. Millie's mom Jule, a retired teacher, also works at the store.
In addition to Peapods, we also spend time renovating our 100 year old home in St. Paul and finding all the fun things to do with Abby, Riley & Duncan in the Twin Cities.
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 Abby & Dan at the International LLL Convention in Washington D.C., 1997  Riley and Duncan in 2005 |
