Main Street at McCormick Boulevard in Evanston Photo: AlphaBeta135 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
A toy store is set to stay on Main Street. Oliver’s Trains and Toys, which opened on Central Street in 2012, announced in April 2013 that it would open a second Evanston location at 710 Main St., with a target of late summer.
The shop’s owners, Bogdan and Siri Rogalski, named it for their son, Oliver. Their first store is at 2002 Central St. When they learned that a longtime Main Street toy shop was closing, they began scouting space nearby. Toys et Cetera, at 711 Main St., had been in business about 30 years. The Rogalskis weighed a few options, including the vacated toy store itself, and decided that storefront was larger than they wanted.
Good’s of Evanston is a family business now in its third generation of ownership, and Chinsky said he saw the arrangement as a way to welcome another locally owned shop to the street.
A framing shop makes room
The space they chose is in a building owned by Shaun Chinsky, third-generation owner of Good’s of Evanston, across the street from Toys et Cetera. Chinsky said his picture-framing business had not been using all the room it occupied. He had been watching for a retailer who would suit the block, and after meeting the Rogalskis he offered them space.
Good’s will fit its framing operation into two storefronts to free up the rest. Chinsky said framing took up less than two storefronts five years earlier, so the change returns the business to roughly the size it held for most of its 110-year history. He said the shop’s offerings would change little.
The Rogalskis said they had considerable work ahead before opening. Both stores concentrate on a carefully chosen selection of toys, and the owners said their approach grew from shopping for their own son and learning which toys held his attention. They also said the Main Street area’s locally owned businesses share their emphasis on customer service.
No exact opening date had been set as of late April. The Patch news site, which also covered the plan, reported that the new store would sit one door down from the closing toy shop, on the opposite side of the street.
Reported from the owners’ announcement and coverage in Evanston Patch.
Daniel Okafor covers business, startups and the Innovators section for The Evanston Edge.
