Gracie Lou’s journey from online and pop-up sales to a thriving downtown storefront
Entrepreneur Sarah Baumbach with her husband, Adam, celebrate the ribbon cutting at Gracie Lou. Photo: Provided.
When Sarah Baumbach’s sister asked her to help decorate the nursery for her newborn son, she learned something: “I quickly found out that there were no children’s shops near Bedford – the closest one is more than 60 miles away! It was hard to find high-quality nursery décor.”
Baumbach has an art background, so she got to work handcrafting crib sheets and gender-neutral décor to create the ultimate nursery. Then, more people started asking her for help. Custom orders turned into a website, then popup shops. Today, she owns Gracie Lou, a children’s boutique in Downtown Bedford.
Baumbach said her successful progression to a storefront is a testament to strategically slow growth, the strength of Bedford’s ecosystem, and help from Startup Alleghenies’ Bedford County coach Jen Marsh.
“Jen was able to connect me to the right organizations and poured a lot of excitement and knowledge into Gracie Lou. She really helped push my idea forward,” Baumbach said.
According to Marsh, “Sarah is the type of entrepreneur that really enjoys building from the ground up. She offers unique items and is passionate about creating something that Bedford needs while giving back to her community.”
Gracie Lou offers clothing, handmade blankets, personalized decor and “preloved” vintage décor for infants and children. “My customers have gone bananas over what we have at Gracie Lou,” Baumbach said. “They love the unique items in the boutique.”
The chic interior of the Gracie Lou Boutique is inviting for even the youngest shoppers. Photo: Provided.
Gracie Lou is Baumbach’s second Bedford business. At Maker Studio, she teaches arts and crafts and hosts workshops, birthday parties, summer camps and special events. In fact, it was Maker Studio that led her to turn Gracie Lou from an online-and-popup-store into a downtown storefront. “During Covid, I couldn’t hold the workshops in person; that’s when I decided it was time to create a storefront for Gracie Lou.”
Baumbach said the business has grown slowly but steadily since 2017, which is the path she deliberately chose: “I bootstrap everything. My growth might be slower than it could be with loans or capital. It allows me to make sure I have processes in place.”
“Coach Jen Marsh was able to connect me to the right organizations and poured a lot of excitement and knowledge into Gracie Lou. She really helped push my idea forward.”
Her strategy has proven to be so successful that she’s already opened another location. “We just opened our second shop in Hollidaysburg, in the US Hotel Tavern building with other shops.”
Startup Alleghenies helps startup and emerging small businesses succeed by providing free coaching to entrepreneurs in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset counties. To access personal, one-on-one support from a coach in your county, including guidance, resources, tools and networking opportunities, sign up at startupalleghenies.com.
