Local store offers range of specialty toys, dolls and
collectibles
Remember those tales about Santa’s workshop that described all those wonderful, exotic toys for kids from all over the world? Morgan Hill has a store kind of like that.
Heidi’s Gifts & Toys, which opened in April, offers a variety of toys that originate from all over the world. Located at 16985 Monterey Road No. 316 in the Morgan Hill Plaza at the corner of Monterey and West Dunne, the store is packed to the ceiling with high-end specialty toys, gifts and collectibles from other countries – a kind of Santa’s workshop of potential presents. Its shelves are stocked with everything from collectible porcelain dolls to German teddy bears, clowns and nutcrackers, and steam engines to die cast car models.
In short, it’s a shopping location for both before and after Christmas, according to store owners Rudolph and Heidi Hess. They said the response from local shoppers has been uniformly positive, and the store did brisk business over the holidays despite the fact that many shoppers told the duo they had no idea where the store was located.
“We did better than normal (during the Christmas shopping season),” Heidi Hess said. “More people came in. And, they’re still stopping by (in the weeks after Christmas).”
She said the store’s vast supply of collectibles was the most popular item for shoppers last month, and said people regularly remarked about the store’s eclectic merchandise.
“People really like it,” Rudolph Hess said. “Everyone says they’re coming back.”
Hess said the store’s most enticing aspect is its collection of hard-to-find toys and gifts, including an array of European merchandise.
“We have a more upscale variety of toys,” Hess said. “This is what people say they want when they come here.”
Heidi Hess said the store focuses on more traditional merchandise.
“What we have here are old-fashioned toys and things, not the video games that most stores have,” Heidi Hess said.
The Hesses have a long history of experience in the toy industry. After moving to the United States in the 1960s, Heidi worked for a toy company in Portland, Ore., and Rudolph has worked for years in wholesale and distribution in the toy industry. They previously owned a toy store, Heidi’s Toy Land in the El Paseo shopping center in San Jose, in the late 1980s.
Rudolph Hess still does a lot of traveling to trade shows, ranging as far abroad as Germany to acquire his top-quality toys.
So, they know about toys and offer some of the top brands in the industry, including Vello Creations (porcelain dolls), Playmobile and Brio (German wood toy lines), Exin castles, Marklin, Kouvaliog, and others. They also stock rare toys and collectibles that are no longer manufactured, along with a collection of Russian babushka dolls.
In addition, the store offers popular inflatables, educational toys and games, books and cards, as well as a host of other items, including luggage.
Details: call (408) 778-1033 or email he***********@*******nk.net
