Thank you for visiting us at Janine's totes, tots & toile!
Owner, Janine Lawler, is thrilled to be able to offer you this fantastic assortment of gifts and accessories. Janine enjoys seeking out the products that are offered here and in the shop. She hopes that you will find everything you need from traditional to trendy, that you won't find everywhere else. She works with several local St. Louis artisans as well as a number of small and large vendors from across the world. Each item offered is chosen because of it's unique appeal, however, only the ones our customers really like will be offered regularly. Janine is always looking for the next new and exciting item, so check back often!
History of Janine's Building
Janine's opened in October, 2003, in a building that was once considered a hospital. The large, three-story, red brick building was built in 1909 by a single man. He practiced medicine on the first floor, lived on the second floor and used the third floor bedrooms as recovery rooms. (We're not quite sure how they got the patients up there - but he must have had help.) | |
| In 1946 the building was sold to another doctor, who moved his family to the second and third floors of the building and continued to use the first floor for his medical practice. Over time, he rented out sections of the first floor and there were both MDs and dentists in the building. There was an MD in the building until about 1999, while the doctor's wife, Elsa, lived upstairs alone. Janine and her husband Steven bought the building from Elsa and her children in August, 2003. Repair crews entered immediately to replace the plumbing stack, update the electrical boxes and bring the building back up to city code. Janine's family moved into the second and third floors in September and the shop opened in October. Despite the major, behind-the-scene repairs, the structure of the building hasn't been changed a bit. The original Bohemian ceramic tile still graces the first floor. | |
