Famalia Toys in Downtown Salina

The Toy Store

Familia Toys is a locally owned toy store located in the heart of downtown Salina at 143 S. Santa Fe, Suite 100. The toy store was established by Salina natives Eric and Yesica Swenson. When the store first opened, the Swenson’s goal was to “offer a high‑quality, family‑focused play experience that aims to bring back a standalone toy store to Salina so that locals have a place dedicated to toys, games, puzzles, and hands-on play.”

Long Awaited Arrival 

The new arrival of Familia Toys fills a prolonged void in Salina’s retail landscape, as the city has been without an independent toy store for many years. When Familia Toys first opened, the toy store’s main goal was “to be a welcome addition for parents, educators, and children alike, offering a dedicated space for discovering unique and educational toys.” Following its launch back in March, over 5,000 toys have been sold. 

What Makes Familia Toys Unique

Familia Toys stands out as a unique toy store due to a combination of philosophy, experience-driven design, and community focus:

• Unlike online retailers or superstores, Familia Toys is designed to be a place to both play and shop. There are many in-store play areas and demo stations that let kids and families try out toys before they buy them. Parents and children are invited to slow down, engage, and connect- turning toy shopping into a family experience, not just a transaction.
• Owners Eric and Yesica Swenson carefully select toys based on quality, creativity, education, and longevity. They focus on classic toys (blocks, dolls, puppets), educational toys (STEM kits, puzzles, books), creative play (art supplies, pretend play, games). Many toys are open-ended, which are designed to spark imagination instead of limiting kids to one way of playing.
• Familia Toys fills a gap in Salina left when previous local toy stores closed. They’re bringing back the neighborhood toy store, a place that’s warm, local, and personal. Familia Toys also collaborates with other local businesses as well.

What Familia Toys Offers

Familia Toys features a wide variety of products that are designed to engage young minds. A few of the many toys that you can find at the toy store include the following:      

• stuffed animals
• biology sets
• coding and robotics labs
• puzzles

Hours of Operation

Familia Toys is open on Tuesdays-Sundays, with differing hours. On Tuesdays/Wednesdays they are open from 10:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M., on Thursdays/Fridays they are open from 10:00 A.M.-7:00 P.M., Saturdays fr

om 10:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M., and Sundays 1:00 P.M.-5:00 P.M. To keep updated with their hours, you can follow their social media pages at @FamiliaToys-Salina.

Community Impact

• • Filling a Retail & Community Gap: for many years, Salina lacked having a locally owned and operated toy store that offered a compiled, interactive experience. Familia Toys brought this back to the community by giving not only kids, but adults a place to locally shop for fun and educational toys
  • Community Engagement: not only is the store just about selling toys, it’s also about creating experiences. Familia Toys creates experiences that include: demo and play stations where people can try out toys in the store before purchasing, in-store events (e.g. game creators visiting, themed events) that bring people together, and create partnerships with local organizations so the store becomes part of the community engagement
•  Social and Educational Value: families and children have access to all types of educational toys, such as: coding/robotics, puzzles, creative play tools that helps with early learning, creativity and STEM skills

Reviews

“The addition of Familia Toys to the community is a really great addition for downtown Salina. There hasn’t been a toy store downtown for many years, so it’s a very cool place for both kids and their families to visit. Familia Toys has a wide variety of toys, games, activities, and other cool gadgets that cater towards children.”

“I think that the toy store seems like a really cool place for children. I haven’t really heard of it before, but I’ve driven by it and it seems really nice inside. Although I haven’t been to the toy store yet, I might go there soon because my younger cousin’s birthday is coming up, so I think that it would be a great place to shop for her.”

“Familia Toys is a great place for family and children to go explore. There are all sorts of toys, games, and educational experiences for children of all ages. I really like how they have a STEM skills toy area, with all sorts of different activities and projects for kids to do.”