ROCKY RIVER, Ohio — A toy store in Northeast Ohio is thriving during the pandemic by taking shoppers on a trip down memory lane.
“It was magical, like, coming in here and seeing everything,” said Halle Breudigam.
It sounds like a fairy tale, but stepping inside Once Upon a Time Toys in Rocky River is like stepping back in time.
“It’s like the same as I remember,” said Kitty Crino. “So cute, same feeling.”
“I used to come in here as a kid and buy the little stuffed animals and the action figures, so it just takes me back to my childhood,” agreed Breudigam.
That’s something owner Jack Seelie is particularly proud of.
“We have a lot of third generation people,” he said. “They’ll come in here talking about it. ‘Yeah, I remember coming here as a kid.’”
That sense of nostalgia is providing some comfort to people during the pandemic.
“Now, I’ve gotta get busy and restock!” Seelie said. “It’s the lowest my inventory’s ever been.”
Sales slowed at the start of the coronavirus outbreak.
“And then in October it started leveling a little, and in November and December, we beat last year,” he said.
The store sells timeless toys – no digital devices. That’s important to shoppers.
“Wooden block, like put-together toys,” said Eileen Griffin.
“They’ve got enough screens, so we try to find something that’s different,” said Greg Griffin.
Speaking of putting things together, normally the store has a wall packed with puzzles, but the items have been popular with people spending more time at home. And keeping them on the shelves has been difficult.
“I’ve only gotten a few 2021 catalogs and I wanna order some new, what’s new,” said Seelie. “So, makes it tough.”
New or old-fashioned, there’s no question of the store’s impact on the imagination.
“I love it, too,” said Seelie. “And if you love it, we got a shot. We just might make it.”
