Quarterly parenting pub Oh Baby! Magazine is bumping up its presence across the country with a deal for distribution through Rexall Pharma Plus stores. About 175,000 copies of the Toronto-based magazine’s April issue will be distributed, including 50,000 copies through Rexall Pharma Plus, 100,000 copies through Sears Canada and another 25,000 through other locations such as Ontario Early Years Centres, Movies for Mommies, Once Upon a Child stores, doctors’ offices, and baby/parenting trade shows. The free mag also has over 1,000 paid subscribers.

The April issue will feature ads by both Rexall Pharma Plus, for its baby and feminine products, and Sears Canada, which is currently using selected Oh Baby! Magazine content in the baby section at Sears.ca and plans to tie it in with Mother’s Day promotions next month. Other major advertisers in Oh Baby! Magazine are Kimberley Clark (Huggies), Mattel and Procter & Gamble.

Nick Eliades, publisher of Oh Baby! Magazine and president/CEO of parent company Hestia International, tells MiC that OhBabyMagazine.com‘s traffic is steady at about 1,500-2,000 unique visitors a day. Sponsored contests within the print version often drive readers to the website to participate in features such as the Cuisinart Best Recipe contest and the Great Graco Giveaway. From those contests, contact info is gleaned, resulting in an e-newsletter blast that currently reaches about 10,000 subscribers.