Here’s an article about our store. Thank you Pioneer Press. Only major correction-we do not believe building toys are just for boys. The actual quote was that there is a perception that building toys are just for boys. We believe that girls and boys enjoy and benefit equally from building toys.
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Evanston, Glenview shops sell toys that delight, inspire
BY CAROL GODDARD Contributor November 29, 2011 3:24PM
Assignment: Find toys for five children as gifts for the holidays.
First step: Head to Becky & Me Toys, two family owned toy stores, one in Glenview and another in Evanston.
In no time at all, Peggy Sebert, who owns and manages the stores along with her husband, Ron, and daughter Becky, offered ideas for presents and gift-wrapped each one.
• A 3-year-old girl: A Carla Color Me doll
• An 8-year-old boy: A Snap Circuit kit for making physics experiments
• A 10-year-old girl: A Loopdedoo kit for making twisted bracelets and necklaces
Walking into Becky & Me, shoppers are reminded of what toy stores used to be before mass merchandisers hit the market: A variety of games, shelves of books, painted and unpainted wooden toys, colorful stuffed animals and exquisite dolls fill the shelves. A wall of dress-ups beckons pretend play.
“We sell hands-on, creative toys,” said Peggy Sebert.
“We have quality toys for a range of ages,” said Ron Sebert, “items that last a long time.”
The Seberts have a pretty good idea of appropriate toys for each age level, as all were teachers. Becky still teaches first-grade at Red Oak School in Highland Park while working part-time at the shops.
One or more of the Seberts masters every game the shops sell; every book is read; and every toy is tested before it goes on the shelves.
“We have to like them,” said Peggy Sebert, before they go on display.
Stocks ‘Best Toys’
When the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association came out with its annual Best Toys for Kids 2011, Becky and Me stores had all the items in stock or on order. (See http://www.astrabesttoysforkids.com for the complete list.)
The stores offer Calico Critters, UglyDolls, Playmobil, Lego, Madame Alexander and Vilac among national brands, along with other hard-to-find toys.
“You’re likely to find things here that are not found elsewhere,” said Peggy Sebert.
Becky & Me was born after Peggy Sebert, a teacher at the time, answered an ad for a teacher to help in a toy store in Wilmette.
“I didn’t know much about toy stores,” she said, but she took a chance and wound up falling in love with the business. “It was a labor of love.”
She loved it so much, in fact, that nine years ago she and her husband decided to open their own toy store. They found a space in Glenview. But to open in time for that year’s holiday season, they had to come up with a name. And fast.
They worked their way through many options. Then Ron Sebert said, “Peggy always signed her notes as ‘Me.’”
They hooked that up with their daughter’s name, and the shop opened as Becky & Me Toys.
Opens second store
Then about three and a half years ago, the Evanston space on Grove Street, site of a former toy store became available, and the Seberts opened a second Becky & Me.
“It was a dream come true,” Peggy Sebert said. “I always loved this store.”
She holds down the fort in Evanston while Ron handles the Glenview shop. Becky shifts between the two. The inventory at both stores is basically the same.
Becky, who was in seventh-grade when the Glenview store opened, practically grew up among the toys. Over the years, she has always filled in when needed.
Because the Glenview store is more centrally located, it services a broad geographical area. The Seberts assumed the Evanston store would be different.
“We thought this (Evanston store) might be more isolated,” Peggy Sebert said, but the store attracts local customers as well as those who work at businesses in Evanston such as The Music Institute and Rotary International, and shoppers from the northern parts of Chicago.
The Seberts are passionate about the value of toys to challenge children’s’ play instincts and to shatter gender stereotypes.
For boys and girls
“Consider building toys,” Ron Sebert said. “We think of that as a boys’ activity.”
But, Peggy Sebert said, “Building blocks teach kids reasoning and deduction.”
Becky Sebert echoed that judgment.
“I see that at my school,” she said.
Dress-ups include ballerina and princess dresses as well as police officer suits.
The store also offers a variety of options for tweens, not always a demographic served in toy stores. “We have games, jewelry, purses, all kinds of items,” Peggy Sebert said. Those items appeal to kids over 10.
Besides offering a frequent buyer club, Becky and Me hosts several special events, such as the Neighborhood Toy Sale held in November, a Calico Critters Day and UglyDoll Club.
This year the stores are drop-off points for Toys for Tots, the annual U.S. Marine Corps toy-collection effort. Any toy purchased in the store expressly for Toys for Tots will receive a 20 percent discount.
