The toys are back in town: My Special Toy Store opens

DOWNERS GROVE – Shoppers on the hunt for toys have a new location to peruse for that just-right present this holiday season. My Special Toy Store opened Nov. 12 at 5137 Main St.

Kathy Burns was a merchandise buyer for 11 years at My Favorite Toy Store, located in the same spot before it closed a year ago, but there is no connection with the old store at all, she said.

The previous store closed both its Downers Grove and Elmhurst locations abruptly last December.

“It’s a totally new store,” Burns said, adding that the merchandise is also different and now caters to children from infants to pre-teens.

Burns started thinking about opening her own store this past June, and once she made up her mind, she didn’t look back. Rehabbing the space started the day after the lease agreement was signed in August, she said.

“I was involved in the specialty toy business for 11 years and thought I was good at what I was doing and I wanted to move forward to pursue that passion again,” Burns said. “When I started thinking about opening my own store I knew that I wanted it to be in downtown Downers Grove.”

As a specialty toy store, it sets her shop apart from other retailers, Burns said.

“The specialty market is a marketplace where manufacturers and companies sell to specialty stores as opposed to big box stores,” Burns said. “Very little of what you find here is in the big box stores.”

Divided into sections, the shop offers preschool, educational, sports and science, among other offerings, Burns said. The merchandise varies from stuffed animal purses to puzzles and dancing water speakers that incorporate LED lights that move to the beat of music.

One additional perk the shop offers that most big box stores do not is free gift wrapping.

“It’s a 24/7 service we offer all-year long,” Burns said. “We like to make shopping as easy as possible for our customers.”

While a grand opening celebration has yet to be set, Burns said that the quiet opening has resulted in some positive customer feedback.

“We appreciate both the new customers who have been coming in the last few weeks as well as the customers who were great supporters of the previous store and coming to our shop,” Burns said. “We have had tremendous support from customers from Downers Grove and the surrounding towns.”

Burns decided the best course to staff the shop was to seek out individuals who are savvy in the specialty toy industry, and ended up hiring several of her former colleagues.

“The employees really know the merchandise we carry,” Burns said. “I was able to hire back five employees who, like myself, worked for the previous owners.”

The knowledge these seasoned employees have and can pass on to customers is something that first-time employees would take a long time to develop, she added.

Downers Grove resident and My Special Toy Store Assistant Manager Lindsay Waszak was one staffer who Burns rehired.

“I felt that we were family and it’s nice that we are all together again,” Waszak said. “It’s fun because I came into it already knowing what to expect because of my experience. We are around toys all days so it’s more fun than anything.”

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About My Special Toy Store

Where: 5137 Main St.

Hours: Open seven days a week. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday; and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

Contact: 630-324-6344; website under construction