Little Monsters

Little Monsters is a specialty toy store featuring items that aren’t found in ‘big box’ stores.  Award-winning games, toys designed by industrial designers and artists, unusual plush animals, wooden, retro toys, science/nature and educational toys are just a sampling of what you will find.  We've even got toys made in the U.S.!

Whereas the space may be small, the selection isn’t.  Little Monsters carries literally hundreds of items.  The “₵enter” alone features about 100 items priced $1 or less.  And we offer free gift wrapping. 

Little Monsters is the brainchild of Christine McKenna and Leila Freijy.  Leila’s 8-year-old son, Cyrus, designed the Little Monsters logo, which is now featured on children’s T-shirts carried at the store.

Cyrus and Mia at the ₵enter

Our Business

Tired of seeing art galleries going out of business a year after they opened, we decided to open up our own art gallery – with a twist.  We were inspired by an artist living on Beaver Island (in the middle of Lake Michigan).  Mary Rose owns the Toy Museum and Store, one of the few stores on the island.  In addition to toys, she also sells her beautiful works of art.  The tiny little store, overflowing with treasures, is an institution on the island.  Now the challenge was to see if that model could work somewhere else.

On a Friday in May 2006, after only a couple of months “planning” (which should be interpreted very loosely), we signed a lease for a 300 sq. ft. space at 15 E. Flint St. in Lake Orion, Michigan (almost at the corner of Flint and Broadway).  The next day, we found ourselves at a salvage place in Detroit buying (heavily) used store fixtures that had come out of the old Jacobson’s department store that went out of business several years earlier.  On Sunday, we were painting the interior of the store a beautiful buttercup yellow, when we both looked at each other at the same moment and asked, “What the heck are we doing?” 

We’d signed a 1-year lease.  We’d bought fixtures.  We’d painted the place yellow.  It was time to find out where to get toys … and art.

The exhaustive research we’d conducted over the previous several weeks mainly involved visiting specialty toy stores in Michigan, Chicago and Arizona.  We talked to store owners (many thanks to Vicki at Sedona Kid Company in Sedona for her generous and invaluable advice).

We started with a handful of distributors, which was enough to fill (most) of our shelves.  Now, we order from over 60 distributors worldwide and our little store is literally overflowing with the kind of unique toys that you won’t find in the “big boxes.” 

Sure, the big chains have the space, the buying power and a network of stores all over the place, but we’ve got the passion.  We’re always on the look out for new items and we continue to add new items and new distributors.

Finding the art was an easier prospect.  Both Chris and I are artists, so we know a lot of very talented artists, present company excluded.  We invited a bunch of them to come over for an informational meeting.  We gave them lots to drink, and then we proceeded to amaze them with our great plan for the gallery, which went like this….  Kids come to a toy store with their parents.  While the kids are looking around and playing, the parents can look at the art, and who knows, even buy some.

We started as an art co-op with participating artists donating 1 day a week to work in the store/gallery in lieu of the gallery taking an commission.  Since then, we've changed the way art is displayed in the store starting in 2008 we're hosting one artist's work each month.

So, when we opened the doors to the public in July 2006, the tiny space hosted not one business, but two – Little Monsters specialty toy store and the Flint St. Gallery.

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