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Owners have enjoyed being a part of the lives of many families

Albert Lea’s longtime toy store will close its doors in mid-November after years of sparking joy and imagination in children and parents alike in the community.

Tom and Tami Staker purchased Celebrations Party & Gifts, a party and weddings supply store, in 2009, which Tom Staker said was successful until a helium shortage took place. Before being faced with the possibility of another shortage in the future, they decided to evolve into selling toys in 2015 and 2016.

By 2017 all of the party supplies were gone and their focus had shifted entirely, and they rebranded the store, at 122 S. Broadway, as Whimzy toy store to give them a new identity.

“It was good — it was very good — because there was nobody else around,” Tom said of their type of business.

The COVID-19 pandemic was mostly positive as well to the Albert Lea business because people were shopping local, but in the years since, people’s buying habits have changed, he said. They have found that more and more people are shopping out of town.

He said after 2 1/2 years of funding a lot of the store out of their own pockets, they decided the time had come to close the store.

“It’s been a steady downhill,” he said, noting that they tried everything they could to keep it open.

They also started noticing that a lot of their Albert Lea customers were going to their store in Lakeville, which opened in 2022, while they were already out of town shopping.

“It’s been eye-opening,” he said.

He does not think big-box stores or online purchasing impacted their store.

The Stakers will keep their Lakeville location open, which currently is right off of the interstate. They opened that store in 2022 after finding that 60% of their customers on the weekend were coming from the Twin Cities area when they came to town to go to Myre-Big Island State Park and other places. The customers asked if they would consider putting in another store in the southern part of the metro.

Tom said they decided to give it a try, and it took off. They will soon be looking for a larger location because their current store location is in the middle of an area that will be getting redeveloped.

He said they pride themselves on their personal service and taking care of their customers and look back fondly on their time with their store in Albert Lea. They have been able to be a part of people’s birthdays and weddings and watch many families grow up.

“Just being a part of everybody’s families for years,” he said was a highlight over the years. “That’s the hardest part — kind of letting that go.”

Especially when they first opened, they were also heavily involved in downtown events, and Tami helped get many of the downtown events going that now take place, including Wind Down Wednesday.

Over the years, children could also enjoy one-on-one visits from Santa Claus during the holiday season in the store, as well as a guest appearance by Elsa from “Frozen,” among other activities, including “Superhero Day,” in honor of World Down syndrome Day.

As owners of a toy store, Tom said they like to pick out things to sell that people can’t find in a big-box store and they pick out things they would like to give to their own grandchildren.

They go to toy conventions to learn about the latest gadgets, games and toys each year, and get the chance to “watch entire convention centers of adults turn into children,” he said.

“You can’t walk into a toy store and walk out sad,” he said of why like they like being in the business.

Though they will no longer have the store in Albert Lea, the couple plans to continue living in the community. When they first came to town, they moved here because they found a house they loved and drove back and forth to their jobs in the Twin Cities — Tami with United Healthcare and Tom with Mazda. Tami has since retired from that job and focuses solely on the toy store, while Tom still works with Mazda as well.

Tom encouraged business owners in Albert Lea to take care of their customers and to not be afraid to ask them what they are looking for. And he encouraged residents to support the businesses in the community, noting if the support is not there, they will close.

“Keep supporting what’s down here because you might be surprised what you’d find,” he said.

Whimzy’s last day will be Nov. 16, and in the weeks leading up to their final day, there will be escalating discounts.