2 downtown State College children’s stores are set to merge into 1 location. Here’s why
The owner of two longtime downtown State College children’s stores plans to merge her businesses by the summer and operate from a single location.
Lindsay Williamson is set to let her lease for The Animal Kingdom, 103 S. Allen St., expire in June. The State College Area High School graduate plans to relocate the business to Growing Tree Toys, which is two blocks away at 202 S. Allen St.
“It will be sad. It’ll be a little bittersweet when we close the doors down the street,” Williamson said Wednesday during a Facebook Live filmed at Growing Tree Toys. “I love that space. There’s definitely emotion attached to that, but the store is not going away. The business is not going away.”
Williamson said in a press release Thursday that she’s looking forward to creating “a one-stop shop” of specialty toys, books and gifts. The Animal Kingdom, which opened in 1991, will continue to have its own branding. The businesses already share a website.
The Animal Kingdom is scheduled to be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday as it operates as a sale outlet to consolidate inventory. Online order pickups and deliveries are available daily.
“This is an opportunity to serve the community in a bigger way,” Growing Tree manager Jennifer Heller said in a statement. “We are excited to plan future events and programming inside and outside the store.”
This story was originally published January 13, 2022 at 3:30 PM.