The Toy Box Offers Toys From Your Childhood, For Your Kids

Shelf upon towering shelf, children’s toystore The Toy Box has just about any toy you can name -- from sesame to science, princess to puzzles, Crayola to K’Nex.

While the store might be slightly overwhelming for first-time parents, the selection is a dream come true for any child, a toddler or a fifth-grader. An FAO-Shawarz of sorts, without NYC pricetags. Unlike FAO and Toys R Us, however, you won’t find any mindless electronics.

Owner Rosemary  Sblendorio said she refuses to sell anything that doesn’t stimulate a child’s intellect or creativity.

“Nothing here is mass-marketed,” Sblendorio said, “no Batman or video games. I want to match the children’s true developmental stages with the appropriate educational items. I try to choose toys that have some sort of value to them.”

Sblendorio’s carefully hand selection of each of her items, rather than generic dolls like Barbie and Batman, stems from her personal beliefs about what kinds of toys to which children should be exposed. The mother has three grown children, Chris and Jessica, who are out of college, and Ryan, a senior at Mahwah High School.

“We always traveled to museums when they were children,” she said. “Even when they were children, I went to specialty stores to get them new toys. My youngest child didn’t watch television until he was eight years old, and not because we didn’t give him the option; he just had no interest.”

What stops the store from turning into just another specialty store? The wide range of science enrichment programs she offers, on topics like magnetism, dinosaurs, matter, electricity and volcanoes. There are more than 35 lessons for an aspiring young scientist, and he or she can sign up for one class at a time rather than purchase a package of classes.

Sblendorio’s background in science gives her the credibility she needs to teach. She majored in chemistry in college, and subsequently went on to run experiments, working at a pharmaceuticals company. Her career was demanding, though, and took its toll on Sblendorio once she had children.

“It wasn’t a typical 9 to 5 job,” Sblendorio said. “Because of all the hours, I felt like I wasn’t being the professional I wanted to be. I wasn’t being the mother I wanted to be either. You have to have regularity in life.”

So, Sblendorio changed professions to focus more on her children. After substitute teaching and volunteering as a CCD teacher, scout leader and providing enrichment programs for young students, took the next step in a career that is devoted to balancing childrens’ education and play: opening The Toy Box.

It took two tireless months for the owner to gather merchandise and open the store in September of 2010.  She also went to specialty stores throughout the state and attended toy shows to assemble the sizable collection she now has.

“I talked to salesmen – they came to my house every day – for two months straight,” Sblendorio said. “I’m always finding new things I’d like to carry.”

The toys in her store range from $2 for trinkets and smaller items to $80, for kitchenettes and wooden furniture.  

“It’s so nice to have toys here that we used to use,” Tammy Schaffelen said, a first-time customer to The Toy Box, who walked out with a hula hoop for her daughter. “The range of merchandise is also very nice.”

The store brings in new customers each day, and Sblendorio said she hopes locals will appreciate it as an alternative to using the highway for the nearest Toys R Us or KB Toys.

For the future, Sblendorio is looking to brand some of her merchandise. With a utilitarian, eco-friendly attitude, she’s interested in creating science kits that have reusable ingredients.

“I’d like to make a science kit that kids can use again and again,” she said.