CANTON, Ohio — If you’re searching for that perfect toy for a loved one, it’s probably safe to assume it’s waiting for you somewhere on the shelves of the new Sir Troy's Toy Kingdom location in Belden Village. Owner Troy Cefaratti believes it is the largest independent toy store in the country.
The store, which spans a whopping 30,000 square feet, is located at 4304 Belden Village Street NW in Canton, the former location of a Marc's grocery store. While this is the business' newest and largest location, they're no stranger to space: The former North Canton location was 9,000 square feet.
The store's grand opening is Nov. 6, 2022.
While the business has three locations -- Belden Village, Medina, and Solon -- Sir Troy's Toy Kingdom had much smaller beginnings. Ever since he was a child, Cefaratti has always had a passion for Legos.
"It was an accidental but fortuitous thing, you know?" Cefarrati said of starting a toy store. "We found a Lego set at one of our local stores that was reasonably priced but was going for a lot of money online. So I bought them all up and sold them online, and then just kept rolling the proceeds back into buying more stuff, and it just, from there, got bigger and bigger and bigger until we are here sitting in 30,000 square feet."
The hobby of buying and selling Lego kits started in 1989, Cefarrati said, until in 2007 he opened up an official toy store in North Canton on South Main Street. At the time, he only carried about six core brands, including Lego, of course.
While more and more competition has popped up over the years, from big box stores to online retailers, Cefaratti credits the quality of the toys he carries and the experience of being able to see toys in person before purchase with the business' success.
"Toys that you're going to entrust to your children or your grandchildren, people tend to want to see what they're getting to make sure it's quality products," he said. "So then that's what we specialize in is quality, imagination-powered toys, so I think that's why people come here. They want to see what they're getting, know that they can trust it, that it's safe to give to their children or grandchildren."
Vice President Heather Marks, who also happens to be Cefarrati's best friend from childhood, also described the products they source as "high quality, imagination-powered toys," many coming from Europe or even custom created for Sir Troy's. It’s one of the reasons the store doesn’t carry video games.
"Parents are looking for that support," Marks explained. "They don't want to have to go online and read everything about every product. They trust us to bring in those toys that enhance their child's play in the way to provide play that helps the child develop."
Despite the massive size of the new location, Marks stressed they still want to be "your hometown toy store." It was a role they took seriously during the pandemic, when even though their doors were closed, Marks was still working to get customers what they needed by shopping for them via FaceTime or Zoom.
Marks refers to the team at Sir Troy's Toy Kingdom as "kid-ults" -- adults who are still children at heart. It's the moments of connecting with families and finding them that perfect something that make the job so rewarding, according to Marks and Cefarrati.
"There's children that come into our store that have never had that experience," Cefaratti said, "and just to see the joy on their face, their eyes get gigantic, and I think that's why most of us do this."
"We get to be a part of their lives for a little portion of time," Marks added, "and for many of them, a very happy portion of time."
From the classics like Breyer Horses, Barbies, and Calico Critters to newer inventions like Lego vehicles with Bluetooth connections and toddler-sized scooters with corresponding helmets, Cefaratti and Marks claim everyone from grandson to grandpa can find something to their liking. After all, Cefaratti say they carry 140 to 150 lines, with about 10,000 active items in their database.
"Just the joy that they brought you as a child," Cefaratti said of the business, "you get to relive that through the new toys over and over again."