ABOUT US

The Toy Factory is located at 5607 Route 13 in New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Telephone: (902) 964-2299 / E-Mail: toys@toy-factory.ca

Toy-Making History… 52 Years in 2024 !

Our story begins in 1972. That’s when a grandfather named Alexis “Al” Shumate” was encouraged by his wife and family to open a toy store, to share the wonderful wooden toys he was making for his grandchildren with friends, neighbors and summer visitors to Prince Edward Island.

Al was a retired musician – he was pianist and arranger with the U.S. Army Field Band in Washington, DC. He had worked his way up to the rank of First Sergeant before he retired and moved to the Island.

With a fluffy white beard, rosy cheeks and a mischievous smile, Al looked a lot like Santa Claus. But like all good toy-makers, Al was honest. He told the children he wasn’t Santa.

“Santa Claus? Why, he’s my brother!” he’d say with a wink.

Back then, The Toy Factory was a delightful little toy-making workshop, where curls of pine shavings, the smell of fresh sawdust, and Al’s jolly character made everyone happy.

In 1990, Al’s doctor told him “It’s time for you to retire, again!”
Al searched high and low to find just the right sort of toy-makers who could take over his workshop and toy store, and keep the warm and friendly spirit alive that was at the heart of The Toy Factory. That’s when we found Al, and he found us.

We’re Dan and Kathy Viau. We were making wooden toys and children’s furniture for our own 3 children, and our friends and neighbors, just like Al had been when he established The Toy Factory. It was a perfect match.

Al agreed to stay on as a toy-making advisor for us, and we took over The Toy Factory workshop and toy store. As time passed, we added our own new wooden toys and games to the original Toy Factory collection. Many were inspired by the imaginations of our three children, our own “hands-on” research & development team. They all worked as toy-makers with us as they grew older.

Today, we still hand-craft all our traditional wooden toys one-at-a-time – toy trains, airplanes, paddle boats – hobby horses, ball & cup games, spinning tops – magic wands and rocking horses. Our workshop is awesome, and our toys have been delighting children for 45 years.

The Toy Factory has always had plenty of toys available for play-testing in our retail store, and we know young families are happy to find our toys aren’t just lots of fun, they’re reasonably priced too. And they’re made to be solid and sturdy, the old-fashioned way. Toys made to last a lifetime.

We looked for other toy-makers with the same ideals… toys with great play-value, well-made so they won’t break in a few hours, or a few years!

We found awesome castles & knights, pirates & pirate ships, fairy tale play sets and doll houses, and the children in our store every summer loved them. We found wonderful dress-up outfits for little princesses too, and our swords, shields and helmets for brave knights have incredible, long-lasting play value.

Our Store is Kid-Friendly

The Toy Factory is located in the oldest building in the village of New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island. Built by a shipbuilder in 1847 – the horse and buggy days – it originally housed a carriage factory. With runners handcrafted at the forge just around the corner, the factory’s New Glasgow Sleigh was well-known on the Island in the 1800’s. For most of the 20th century, the building housed a family-owned general store; we moved our toy-making business here in the spring of 1998, just as the tourism boom was beginning that was created by the opening of the Confederation Bridge the previous year.

Today, our toy store features “hands-on” play areas with plenty of toys for kids to try out. Our toy-making workshop is also frequently open to visitors during the summer, so families can watch and interact with our toy-makers at work.

The energy of the children that visit our store every summer inspires us. We hope our toys inspire creativity and fun too!