Kristin Roehmer was gearing up for her first holiday season as owner of Kidstop Toys and Books after buying the store earlier this year.
“We have tripled our staff in-house to serve our customers, and we have lots of backstock ready to refill,” Roehmer said. “We are ready for people to come shop here for the holidays.”
For local toy stores, the bulk of their business for the year takes place between Halloween and Christmas, making the holiday season a critical time for the small businesses.
Roehmer bought Kidstop in the beginning of 2023, after longtime owner Kate Tanner announced she planned to retire and close the store. Roehmer said she felt called to keep the store open, which had been a staple in the community for decades. The store closed briefly at the end of February but reopened under the new ownership in April.
“It was such a beloved icon in the community,” Roehmer said of the store, which is located in Scottsdale at 70th Street and Shea Boulevard.
Tanner has remained at the store on staff to help Roehmer get started and get the store on track.
“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is how important our local business is to our community,” Roehmer said. “We have had people come in, in tears, saying thank you for staying open.”
Ahead of the holiday season, the shelves were full of toys for kids of all ages, ranging from stuffed animals for babies to sporting equipment, science experiments, costumes and all kinds of other toys and games.
Jennifer Mawcinitt, owner of Wildlings Toy Boutique in Phoenix, started her career in education and worked in special education for years before deciding to open a toy store.
“I wanted to focus on purposeful play,” she said. “Everything in our shop is geared toward making things fun and engaging, but also making sure playtime is enriching.”
Mawcinitt was inspired to open the store after traveling to other cities and seeing the fun toy stores and specialty stores and realizing there weren’t very many options for stores specializing in toys in the Valley.
“I wanted to offer something I felt like the community was lacking,” she said. The store is in central Phoenix near 16th Street north of Bethany Home Road.
Since she opened the store, Mawcinitt said she has been able to form personal connections with a lot of her customers, and parents and others buying for kids are happy to see there are local toy stores that carry products that might not be found in a large department store.
“Our customers are so supportive,” she said. “I think coming out of the pandemic there was a big focus on shopping local.”