08/06/2024
by Victoria Ritter
When Kai Rady moved her growing family to Charlottesville, VA 50 years ago, she noticed there were no toy stores in the city. She turned the issue into an opportunity and opened Shenanigans in 1974. Half a century later, the toy store continues to thrive and prioritize quality toys, dependable customer service and a fun experience for all.
Amanda and Jimmy Stevens, who are longtime Charlottesville locals, took over ownership of Shenanigans five years ago. Just like Rady, Stevens had no previous experience in operating a business. Instead, Stevens had worked as an elementary school teacher and administrator. When Jimmy heard that Rady was selling Shenanigans, he proposed they buy it.
“For my entire career, I had taught teachers and students that they could do anything that they were willing to work hard at and try,” Amanda said. “We felt like it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we had to do it.”
Catering to customers near and far
The original storefront was located in Rady’s house before moving to a shopping center in the northwest sector of Charlottesville. However, Shenanigans eventually outgrew the space and moved to its current site on West Main Street about 10 years ago. Shenanigans now acts as an anchor store in a free-standing building, taking up 2,200 square feet.
“It’s nice,” Amanda observed. “We have on-site parking, which is hard to come by here. It’s been a good location for us.”
Shenanigans offers a vast selection of items for all ages, spanning from classic toys to current trending items; as of June, it had nearly 4,800 SKUs from 400 to 500 brands. The sales floor is laid out by age from birth to 5 years, then by section. Departments range from puzzles, games and sensory items to science, books, magic and outdoors.
Amanda believes all the store’s toys and games have an educational component to them – whether it be teaching a certain subject or helping develop a social or mental skill. “Generally, there’s real value to anything we play with,” she said.
Current bestsellers include tonies’ Toniebox, Downhill Duo from MAGNA-TILES and Stomp Rocket. Popular brands at Shenanigans include Jellycat, Lego, tonies, Playmobil, Micro Kickboard, Douglas, Magna Tiles and Schylling. Along with major companies, the store also features smaller manufacturers such as SmartNoggin, Tinkertar, Charlottesville-based Copernicus Toys and Microkits. “We try to support local creators and companies as much as we can,” Amanda said.
When curating the store’s inventory, Amanda carefully considers products. She takes into account the needs an item would fill, who’s the target user, whether it is a quality product and if she would use or recommend it.
Amanda takes suggestions and input for products from several sources, including sales reps, trade publications and shows. Shenanigans staff attend Astra Marketplace & Academy and Atlanta Market regularly. Amanda keeps current on trends by watching what her two kids, ages 6 and 9, and their friends are interested in. Customers also offer their insights, which often leads to success.
“I had a customer come in looking for the Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza game,” Amanda recalled. “They explained it to me and I said, ‘I have to play this game!’ Now we carry all of the Dolphin Hat Games’ games.”
Shortly after taking ownership of Shenanigans, Amanda digitized the inventory and overhauled the store’s website. All of the store’s wares are catalogued on the same POS system and are available for purchase both in-store and online at shenanigans.toys. Just a little over six months later, the pandemic hit. “Thankfully, we were ahead of the curve,” Amanda said. “We had most of our products on the website, so we were able to fine tune it so people could shop from home.”
Today, online purchases constitute about 10 percent of sales, according to Amanda. She went on to explain that many customers who have moved away from Charlottesville use the Shenanigan’s online ordering platform. Meanwhile, there are patrons who come from all around Virginia to shop with them as they don’t have a specialty toy store nearby.
“They want to make the trek if they can,” Amanda stated. “If they can’t, they can still get what they want online.”
Shenanigans regularly ships across the country, and its reach extends around the world. Orders ship out every day, said Amanda.
“We’re always making adjustments,” Amanda said, adding that the staff conducts an inventory check every January. “It’s become crucial for us to keep up with the inventory – if a mistake is made bringing up the wrong thing and someone easily orders it online, it becomes a headache. I have a really great staff that’s diligent about keeping up with inventory and the details of these products as they come in and go out.”
A supportive community
Shenanigans has seen its fair share of customers – a mix of teachers, parents, grandparents and those looking to purchase birthday gifts – across the decades. One of the causes of the store’s success is Amanda, Rady and their employees’ dedication to providing excellent customer service from knowledgeable employees, fostering a welcoming atmosphere and going above and beyond to meet customers’ needs.
“It’s really special to be celebrating 50 years in Charlottesville because we have parents who come in and say, ‘My mom used to bring me here. Now I’m bringing my kids here,’” Amanda said. “It’s really sweet to see this fun experience being shared across generations.”
Depending on the season, Shenanigans employs between eight and 15 staff members; in June, there were three full-time and six part-time employees. Amanda hires locals and students from the nearby University of Virginia.
“They’ll like it and will stay for as long as they can,” Amanda said. “I’ll have them for a couple years, which is nice. It creates a nice vibrance among the staff. They keep me on trends, helping me out with social media.”
Shenanigans further engages with the community through promotions and events. A popular aspect is its gold coins, which Jimmy conceptualized. The coins, each representing $1, are available for purchase in $10 and can be redeemed similar to a gift card. Parents and grandparents purchase them for Easter eggs, stocking stuffers, chore tokens and even treasure hunts at the beach.
A more recent development is a monthly story hour. A local children’s therapist comes in to read a story and help with a fun, social emotional activity. Amanda is hopeful to host more events in the future.
“It’s been really nice getting some people in who maybe haven’t been into Shenanigans before. Maybe they hear about the story hour through a friend. It’s just so fun to have a mess of kids listening to a story and engaging in an activity at the store. It feels so lively.”
With the surfeit of support the store has received over the years, Shenanigans returns the favor by giving back to the community. The store actively supports and sponsors local schools, initiatives and nonprofit events. In the past five years alone, Shenanigans has committed financial, tangible or in-kind contributions to UVA Children’s Health “Week of Giving,” Greenbrier Elementary School’s Fun Run, Wildrock’s city school play sheds, local nonprofit Ishan Gala Foundation’s Splash 5K and other initiatives,
Josephine’s Village 5K, Toy Lift and more.
“Any local business needs the support of the local community in order to succeed,” Amanda observed. “I am just so grateful for the support we’ve had from the community that I want to make sure that we’re giving back – specifically to kids.”
The next 50 years look bright
Business is going well for Shenanigans, said Amanda. She plans to continue on the same trajectory, share the same great products and grow the online side of the business. Additionally, she has hopes to start a nonprofit or charitable organization under Shenanigan’s name to support families who have lost children.
“I feel like we’ve finally come out of COVID and settled into a norm,” she stated. “People are appreciative of being able to rely on us. People know if they need something, we’re there and they know that we’ll go above and beyond to help them.
“It’s an honor for me to be a part of this,” Amanda continued. “It’s just amazing to be a part of something that people recognize. It brings a smile to people’s faces. It brings my entire family joy.”
To celebrate Shenanigan’s 50th anniversary, the Stevens will host a party on October 19 with free kids’ activities, face painting, arts and crafts projects, music, goodie bags and more. Amanda appreciates how vendors and sales reps have donated raffle prizes and items for the gift bags and how customers have offered continuous support.
“I’m just really excited to be celebrating the 50th year and be on this crazy adventure.”
