New Somerville Toy Store Specializes in Wooden, Eco-Friendly Toys

• Address: 316 Highland Ave.
• Phone: (617) 764-4110
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• Events—Sing-alongs: Wednesdays at 11 a.m. Momma yoga (for a limited time): Monday's at 3 p.m. Book readings: coming soon.

Somerville Patch: What is Magpie Kids?

David Sakowski: "It's similar to what Magpie is for adults, but it's for kids. It's a place where you can find unique items you wouldn't find at box and chain stores. We try to carry handmade items if possible, eco-friendly items, things that are sort of old-school in a way, toys that require kids to use their imagination. We don't have anything in here that would need a battery or need to be plugged in. Most of our toys are made of wood. You have to use your imagination to play with them, and I think it reminds me of toys when I was a kid."

Somerville Patch: When did you open?

David Sakowski: "We just opened up in the beginning of August. So we're very new. And I have a 13-month-old daughter, which was part of the idea behind the store. I couldn't find things to buy for her anywhere in the area, and I thought other people might be having that problem, too. I walked by this space on my way back and forth to Magpie, and I saw it was empty, and I just contacted them and rented it."

Somerville Patch: Why did you decide to open here?

David Sakowski: "Mostly because of this nice big space, and it was available. It would be nice to be in the square, but the prices in Davis Square are kind of exorbitant, so it's difficult to have a retail business in Davis Square anymore. I think you're going to see the square be all restaurants and bars because they're the only ones who can afford to be there, and chains."

Somerville Patch: You own this and Magpie. Any other stores?

David Sakowski: "Nope, just these two for now."

Somerville Patch: How long has Magpie been there?

David Sakowski: "It's been at that spot for about seven years. It's been open for nine years."

Somerville Patch: What cool things do you sell here?

David Sakowski: "Wooden toys are the big thing. Sustainable, eco-friendly, there's no plastics. Your kid can play with it and you don't worry about any sort of chemicals getting rubbed off from the wood. So we carry wood blocks and wood toys, all sorts of things you have to use your imagination with. Cool firetrucks and cars and things. We also carry a selection of books, and we carry a section of crafting books with crafts you can do with your kids. In general I would say the wood toys are one of our specialties, and also the plush toys. A lot of people knit toys, and we have a collection of cool animals."

Somerville Patch: What are the most popular so far?

David Sakowski: "These are popular, these wooden robots. You can put them in all different positions and they come in all different sizes and colors. Multi-color and single-color ones. Again, you have to make a little story [to play with them.]"

Somerville Patch: Any recommendations for holiday shoppers?

David Sakowski: "Well, the Cubebots or the Plan Toy stuff. Although it's wood, it's very reasonably priced. This is a cone stacker. It's a classic. It's been around since the 50s. This alligator is also a classic toy, it's 30 or 40 years old. It's really popular."

Somerville Patch: How do you find these toys, how do you select them?

David Sakowski: "I find a lot of these online, or they have toy fairs. It's based on my taste, what I think is a good product. I wouldn't sell anything I don't thinks is a good product. And my daughter, as she's been growing older we've been testing things with her."

Somerville Patch: I'm eager to play with the toys myself. Do you sometimes find parents and adults are more excited than kids for these toys?

David Sakowski: "Well, a lot of the toys are for kids under 3. While the kids might not care if it's a wood toy or it's eco-friendly, the parents definitely do. And so they are excited to find things that are safe for their kids … Kids like to mimic what adults do …"—Sakowski points to a wooden plate with wooden pieces of food—"they like to play with fake food and beverages. They love this stuff. They pretend they're playing with food"

Somerville Patch: Is there any way Somerville could make things easier for business owners?

David Sakowski: "They could make the permiting and stuff like that easier … but it's a good city. I think more than the city it's the people who live here are really pro local business, which is great. Everybody in Somerville, everybody likes to shop locally."