Take: Once Upon a Time Toys, Rocky River, Ohio

Many of us older millenials grew up with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks films. If you're one of us, you remember "Sleepless in Seattle" of course and its psuedo sequel "You've Got Mail." Spoilers ahead, but much of "You've Got Mail" is about the battle between the small little Shop Around The Corner, a classic book store in New York City where Meg Ryan grew up selling books with her mother who had passed away. 

Children would come in with their parents and she would sit, talk with them, listen and find the perfect book. She named titles that many of us remember fondly, and some that a few of us looked up after we watched the film. The shop was filled with quaint little twinkle lights and adorable book-related toys, and everything in there was curated by her just as it had been by her mother.

Enter the villain: F-O-X. Fox Books seems clearly patterned after Barnes and Noble or Books-A-Million (though I doubt the latter even existed at that time). They call it the cost club for books and all of the quirky employees at the Shop Around the Corner know that their time is limited with this behemoth moving in next door.  Meg Ryan's character puts up a fight, but ultimately, the audience is heartbroken watching her close down her shop.

She reminisces about her mother dancing in the shop with her as a girl - the whole thing is a major downer. In fact, I'm not really sure how she ever forgives the second-in-command at Fox Books, Joe Fox. But, go watch the movie and you can let me know what you think.

The point of this long description is to say that we have our own 'Shop Around the Corner' in Northeast Ohio. Actually, we probably have many shops around the corner, but perhaps none quite as magical as Once Upon A Time Toys in Rocky River. 

Walking in the front entrance, there is a grand feeling seeing the shelves of toys and to your left a large wooden rocking horse right out of The Velveteen Rabbit. Walking in the back door, you instead pass through a sort of magical hall and the store opens in front of you.

The toys are a blend of classics, modern toys, games and some things that look like they emerged from a kid's verison of the Sharper Image catalog. The shop has a number of toys without lights, sounds and batteries, which many developmental specialists recommend for children with speech delay or who are neurodiverse. It also has a meaningful selection of sensory-based toys.

Rather than an overwhelming wall of any one kind, the shop is filled with hand-selected items, purchased by the owner who has been sourcing toys since the early 80s.

"We’ve been on the same corner in Rocky River for 35 years," their website says. "Jack, the owner, is here daily to make sure you are well taken care of. He’s older now, but still on a quest for the best toys money can buy."

Before opening in Rocky River, the family started out in 1984 with a storefront in the Old Arcade Building. They credit their ability to remain on the corner with new 'Fox Books-esque' mega stores popping up all over Cleveland to their customers and friends.

"We have been staffed with friends and family over the many years, and enjoy multi-generational relationships with many fine families," their website says. "Their support has carried us through competition from the internet and the Great Recession and their continued support will ensure that Rocky River will always have a “real” toy store to visit with the kids."

How did I end up in Once Upon a Time Toys? I wanted to get a gift for a birthday while my kids were in rehearsal downtown. I was looking for an actual toy store, where I could actually go inside and purchase a toy. I didn't want a Walmart or a Target, I wanted a spot where I could potentially find something unique and special.

When I landed upon their website as an actual brick-and-mortar toy shop, I saw that they also wrapped gifts FOR FREE. I am the worst at wrapping gifts by a long shot. It's not so much that they turn out badly, it's more the swearing and rage that occurs while I'm attempting to make them look halfway decent.

Wrapping, if you haven't noticed, has also become kind of expensive. If you're anything like me (hopefully not, but) you don't keep wrapping supplies like tape and paper on hand well. I do try and keep gift bags we receive, but of course my children tend to crush and rumple them on sight. 

Having a person wrap my gift in such a way that it looks respectable and saves me from purchasing an entire roll of paper that I will never use again, plus tape and maybe even scissors (on a bad/rushing day). I estimate that saves me at least $7, if not more. 

Plus, as she was wrapping my gift, the lovely lady on the left let me know they had small cards for some nominal cost (50 cents maybe?) and bigger cards for $1. The card I chose was beautiful and just as nice as any card I would have bought elsewhere. Again, I estimate they saved me $3-4 with that affordable card. 

On a subsequent trip, my husband and I did figure out that the wrapping services probably benefit the store more than I initially realized. In addition to providing exceptional customer service, they encourage you to peruse more, which leads to buying more. While we waitedas they wrapped our kid's Christmas gifts (seriously, 8 gifts), we ended up seeing and purchasing a beautiful wooden train set that spells our son's name and is compatible with the wooden tracks we already own ($51 all said and done). 

Wrapping really only saves you money if you're an extraordinarily disciplined soul, but I'm 100% confident that every gift purchased at Once Upon a Time Toys will be cherished in my house.

So, the big question is, are the toys competitively priced with Fox Books? The answer is, yes and no. It depends on the toy and it depends on where you would buy an alternative and whether or not you care about things like fair wages, humane business practices and your money feeding the local economy. 

A few of the toys on the shelves can be purchased from a Walmart, Amazon or Target cheaper. In particular, the lego sets. That said, probably 80% of the toys aren't going to be found anywhere locally, and a few I spot checked were maybe 10-15% cheaper online (assuming Amazon Prime Shipping).

While we are all feeling the burden of inflation, 10-15% is worth it to have a magical toy store for our children to visit. A place where they can experience what we did with Toys 'R Us, which, I know isn't really a small local, but at least we could actually see and play with the toys in person.

When I went into Once Upon a Time Toys for the birthday gift, they were participating in a  local holiday event and had a balloon artist and a storytime. There was one employee carefully checking and rearranging the book area as families went through and little hands moved things out of place.

The store and its employees/family are genuinely interested in helping you find a good toy for the child you are gifting it to. If you ask for help, they will spend time asking about the child and showing you around the shop to where the best options might be. I half expected to see Meg Ryan and Steve Zahn floating around to recommend the ideal toy for each of my children.

Of course, we had no problem finding a hundred great options. We had a harder time choosing and respecting the budget we set in our heads.

When I combine the service, the free wrapping (and the swear words it saved me), the affordable cards, the experience and the price, I am sure I came out ahead. And let's be real, you can buy $300 worth of toys at Walmart and your child can play with none of them, or you can find one, really special toy for far less that will be played with every single day and be remembered.

If you want to give that memorable gift, or if you want to give your children a magical toy shopping experience,  I recommend Once Upon a Time Toys in Rocky River.