When Dee Stevens opened her tiny toy shop, The Grow-Cery, in downtown Glen Rock 25 years ago, there were two giant Toys R Us stores nearby — each 15 minutes away. She also had to contend with Noodle Kidoodle, Zany Brainy, Imaginarium and KB Toys stores all within easy reach of her customers.

Now, Toys R Us and all those other toy chains are gone. Dee Stevens and The Grow-Cery are still in the game.

She won playing by a different set of rules — choosing quality toys, avoiding foolish fads, and not worrying about what the big-box stores all around her were doing. "Would I outlast them? I never gave it a thought," she said. She considered her small store part of a different universe than Toys R Us. "They were 50,000 square feet and I was 1,100 square feet. And I didn't want to sell the same toys as them."

This Christmas — the first since all Toys R Us stores closed after the Wayne-based retailer collapsed following its bankruptcy filing — is shaping up to be a merry one for toy store survivors like Stevens.

At the Tons of Toys store in Wyckoff, just before the start of Hanukkah, there was a line of shoppers at the cash register and owner Ken Maietta and a store employee were speed-wrapping Lego sets, building blocks, baby dolls and dozens of other purchases for customers.

At the Let's Pretend toy shop in Ramsey's Interstate Shopping Center recently, owner Janet Zuendt fielded calls from customers looking for hot items like the Melissa & Doug $199.99 Fresh Mart farm stand, and the store was packed with parents and grandparents buying gifts.

The disappearance of Toys R Us has caused shoppers to rethink where, and how, they buy toys, and that has caused some to discover, or rediscover, local toy stores.

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"We're hearing owners telling stories about someone walking in the door and saying 'Oh, I didn't even know you were here' — at a store that's been there for something like 25 years," said Kimberly Mosley, president of the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA). "They do feel like they've picked up some new customers" who may be former Toys R Us shoppers, she said.

Mosley believes neighborhood toy stores are also benefiting this year from a growing interest on the part of consumers to shop local. "People are looking for what they can do in their own neighborhood" and supporting their local coffee shops, bookstores and toy stores, she said.

Another "sad but true" benefit resulting from the Toys R Us closings was that the news about Toys R Us "kept toys front of mind for everyone" and made consumers seek out other places to buy toys, Mosley said.

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There are about 3,000 specialty toy stores in the United States, according to ASTRA. That number includes game stores and hobby shops.

This typically is the busiest month of the year for local toy stores, just as it was for Toys R Us. But a strong economy and the absence of Toys R Us are making this year a bit more jolly, owners said.

"We're always busy, but we will probably get a bit of a boost this year," said Ken Maietta, at Tons of Toys in Wyckoff. His father opened the store 30 years ago, and the company has added three more stores in North Jersey — in Westwood, Madison and Bernardsville.

Independent toy store survivors have long been doing a number of things that analysts said could have saved Toys R Us. They strive to make their store an experience, with displays that kids can play with while their parents shop. They also have strategies to get customers into the store, such as in-store birthday parties, or "wish bins" — a kid-friendly version of a gift registry. Wish bins are plastic tubs marked with the child's name that a child or parent can fill with toys from the store that the child would like to get for a birthday.

At Let's Pretend in Ramsey, more than a dozen wish bins crammed with toys were stacked on shelves. The store also hosts birthday parties and creates experiences for kids, such as the Thomas the Tank Engine play table in the center of the store, or the rotating K'nex toy Ferris wheel in the front of the store.

Dee Stevens said she's a little embarrassed when she looks at old photos of her store from the year she opened The Grow-Cery, because she had hardly any merchandise. "I look at pictures and I think: How the heck did you have the nerve to open with nothing? You know what? I had no money."

What she did have was a retail pedigree. She was a graduate of Macy's Executive Training Program, with prior experience at Macy's Herald Square and other stores. Now, every inch of her store is crammed with inventory, and her forte is being able to instantly put her hands on the perfect toy for a customer who says, "I need something for a 4-year-old boy who likes cars, but it can't have any tiny pieces because he has a little brother."

"I hope this store never closes," said Maggie Enright, a New Yorker, who shops at the store while visiting her sister in Glen Rock. "You find things in here you don't find anywhere else."