Welcome to our website!  

The idea for Got Bears? was put into action in 1998 by my mother, Barbara Crowder.  The story goes like this...

Barbara had retired from a long career in the legal field and very soon found herself quite bored.  Boredom became obsession as the Beanie Baby craze hit.  She would stand in long lines, sometimes all night long, waiting for the next shipment of Beanie Babies from her favorite stores.  She would not be satisfied until she possessed each and every one of these cute little creatures.  But not just one of each, oh no.  She wanted many of each.  She found a thrill in the hunt for these little animals.  But the thrill soon turned to dismay as she took stock of her new possessions, which now filled two full bedrooms of her house.  Not knowing what else to do, she learned the language of HTML and built a website.

With the website and the business license came the opportunity to attend trade shows, where my mother found many, many wonderful things to buy besides and in addition to Beanie Babies.  She fell in love with Gund and Jellycat and Douglas Cuddletoys and all things plush.  She ordered with great enthusiasm, and soon filled another three rooms of her house with inventory.  YIKES!

Obviously there was nothing left to do but open a store.  And Got Bears? Gifts and Collectibles was born.  My mother put her heart and soul into her store.  She went to many markets, finding very unique items.  She was a fearless entrepreneur and created one of the most unique gift shops in all of Oklahoma.

The store was so amazing that her customers would exclaim, "Oh my gosh!" and, "Look at this!"  She heard these phrases repeated several times every single day.  After a couple of years she finally decided to change the name of the store to "Oh My Gosh! Gifts and Collectibles".  In December of 2003 I joined my mother as her business partner and store manager.

Barbara passed away on May 30, 2006, after a two year battle with fallopian tube cancer.  My mother was the most amazing person I've ever known.  While I can never be the smart, savvy, fearless business woman she was, I do hope I can carry on the legacy of Oh My Gosh! with as much heart and enthusiasm as she brought with her to work every single day.

With that in mind, I am constantly bringing in new and unusual products of only the highest quality.  I am in the process of restructuring the website, and should be up and running very soon.

Thank you for visiting.

Teddybear hugs,

Kim Drye

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