John Slagh was in third grade the year his mom decided to open a custom
toy store in West Lansing. It was 1960.
The family recently held a garden party to commemorate
Toy Village's anniversary—50 years at the same location.
Toy Village,
3105 West Saginaw St., specializes in custom-made dolls and toys of all
varieties for children. Most are made of wood or porcelain, which Slagh
believes makes all the difference.
Toy Village is the country’s largest distributor of
Lawton dolls,
which are made by Wendy Lawton in California. “If they sell it at
Wal-Mart or
Meijer, we don’t have it,” says Slagh, who now manages the store full time.
There are eight people on
staff, which includes Slagh’s 80-year-old mother, who still works part
of every day. The 150-year-old house that hosts the shop is still in the same condition as when they
started. At the time of opening, Slagh says Saginaw Street was still a
two-track dirt road.
Every year at the end of
June, Toy Village holds a convention, bringing toy lovers together from
around the country. Slagh says more than 150 people from 22 states came
to the luncheon and most of those attended the anniversary garden party
the next day. Some people have been coming to the annual event for 15
years in a row, he says.
Source: John Slagh
Writer: Andy Balaskovitz
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