Toy Fans Rally to Save Clayton Store

Community support has prevented two popular St. Louis area toy stores from closing shop as originally planned.

Happy Up, Inc., the owners of LagoonaMagoo Toys in downtown Clayton and Once Upon a Toy in Edwardsville, Ill., announced they'd be closing because they couldn't pay off a bank loan, our partners at FOX2 reported. The stores are well-loved by longtime customers for their “hands-on” approach to toy shopping.

Read more: Meet the Owners of LagoonaMagoo Toy Store

The Edwardsville location, which co-owner Shawnta' Ray purchased after working there as an employee for several years, has a much more dedicated fan base. Ray previously told Patch she’s had the pleasure of seeing former customers bringing their own children into the store.

The Clayton storefront, however, is relatively new--it opened in October 2012 to replace the former St. Louis Mills Mall location. 

Ray and her husband, Rick Harmon, announced on March 8 that the stores would close. Efforts to prevent the closings gained steam fast. Customer Heather Browning started a Save the Toy Store effort on Facebook, where the idea to use a crowdsourcing fundraiser was born. (You may be familiar with the concept—Katie’s Pizzeria just completed its own fundraiser on Kickstarter to open a new restaurant in Rock Hill.)

A Crowdtilt fundraiser raised more than $25,000 for the couple in the first 24 hours. More than 900 people contributed to the campaign, totaling $82,450—including contributions from Edwardsville business owners who donated a portion of last Thursday’s profits to the effort.

“I can't believe what has just happened! This entire process has been epic and fairy tale like! We're totally humbled by the support of our family, friends, employees, customers and other local businesses,” Ray posted on the Save the Toy Store Facebook page. “This story is actually about a group of people who worked together to make something happen out of love, not just about a small business who was gifted a second chance. “

Both stores are remaining open for now, according to the Happy Up, Inc., Facebook page.

“Because $75,000 is only the tip of the iceberg, the campaign will continue after that goal is reached,” Crowdtilt organizer Emily Terry-Gates wrote on the campaign page.

“We do not know for certain that this campaign will solve the problem; what we do know is that a community coming together to save an independently owned toy store that has fallen victim to our nation's poor economic conditions is unprecedented territory.”