Stores Offer Babes a Toyland : Shopping: The Valley’s smaller establishments compete by providing personal service and extensive play areas.

From the outside, they look like ordinary shops. They are tucked into mini-malls along Ventura and Reseda boulevards next to yogurt parlors, florists and one-hour photo shops.

But inside there is nothing ordinary about them.

They are the San Fernando Valley’s privately owned toy stores. The proprietors of these shops do not compete with the major toy store chains, even making it their goal to be as different as possible from large toy stores.

Among them are Animal Kracker-Treehouse in Encino and The Developing Child in Woodland Hills, both on Ventura Boulevard; and Victor’s Toys on Reseda Boulevard--the Valley’s oldest toy store. Each specializes in individual attention, unusual toys and keeping children entertained while their parents shop.

Like rides at Disneyland, the atmosphere in each of these stores is different from the others, but all three offer children a magical change of pace from major toy stores such as Toys R Us and Kaybee Toy Stores.

“Our motto is that we’ll never hire a 16-year-old kid to stand behind the counter and say, ‘It’s over there,’ ” said Roberta Sklar, who opened The Developing Child with her brother, Joe Sklar, five years ago. “We handpick every item we buy, and we personally help each customer who walks in the door.”

Individual service is also the reason Abbey Faranesh, owner of Animal Kracker-Treehouse, and Gina Dunn of Victor’s Toys have won over hundreds of loyal customers.

“If a customer comes into my store more than once, I remember them and know them by name,” said Faranesh, who has operated Animal Kracker-Treehouse for nearly 10 years.

But toy stores, after all, are for children. And their appeal to little ones is why stores such as these have truly captured the market.

At each of these shops, parents can leave their children in a play area where sample toys can be tested by the toughest critics of all. And while the children are lost in play, parents can shop.

“That way a parent can get something done without having to tell their child not to touch everything,” said Dunn, who has set aside an entire play yard in the back of her store, Victor’s Toys.

Dunn works in the back of the store and watches the children playing on Little Tyke slides and swing sets or racing around on Big Wheels. Victor’s Toys is more than 10,000 square feet and comparable in size to some of the larger toy stores. But the similarities stop there. The used look of every toy in the play yard is proof that children do indeed love shopping at Victor’s Toys as much as their parents.

At boutique-sized The Developing Child, Roberta Sklar makes it her personal goal to spend time with each customer. As for the children, there are four separate play tables for them. At one table, for example, children can work on arts and crafts, at another they can set up and take apart a train set imported from Germany.

“The key to making any toy store a success is setting aside a space where the kids can play,” said Karen Langner of Woodland Hills, who brings her daughters Kathryn, 4, and Chelsea, 19 months, with her when she shops at The Discovering Child. “And Roberta is very knowledgeable, so she can direct you to the right age-appropriate toy for your need,” Langner said.

Animal Kracker-Treehouse customers always seem impressed with Faranesh’s knowledge and understanding of children. Faranesh spent 16 years teaching and substituting at secondary schools in the Valley before she decided to open a toy store.

Faranesh sells clothes as well as toys and books, and her store is divided into four small and cozy rooms. The largest contains clothes for older children, and the smaller center room has a variety of educational toys. On one side of the center room is a room with children’s books, and on the other is one for infant clothing.

The children enjoy the book room most of all, Faranesh said. The room is set up like a library with giant oversized stuffed animals in the corners.

It is not uncommon for Faranesh to be helping a customer in the clothing section of the store while the customer’s children are curled up next to a stuffed animal reading a book. Throughout the book and toy rooms, Faranesh has baskets of toys, books and activities.

“She’s never had this much fun in any store,” said Karen Lepp as she watched her daughter Carly, 16 months, poke at a giant stuffed panda bear at the Animal Kracker-Treehouse. “There just aren’t a lot of stores where the kids can get down on a carpeted floor and touch everything they like.”

Tama Marantz of Encino, a customer of Faranesh’s for several years, praised the quality of the toys. “The way I feel about this store is I’d like to wrap it up and take it home,” she said.

The reason Faranesh and other small toy store owners are able to compete with the major chains is because they try to stock items people can’t find anywhere else.

At Victor’s Toys, Dunn carries Madame Alexander and Effanbee dolls--all collector’s items--that cost anywhere from $40 to $350. One of the specialties of Effanbee, a New York-based company, is 10-inch-tall First Lady dolls that are made to resemble actual wives of U.S. presidents. Some of these can be obtained through special order only and can cost as much as $1,000.

Victor’s Toys also carries handmade teddy bears, at $50 to $70, imported from Germany. Each bear has movable parts.

But there are many unusual toys at Victor’s in the $5 to $20 range: for instance, the line of Chinese battery-operated toys such as the police car ($14.95), the fire engine ($22.95), the motorcycle ($9.95) and the smoking, whistling locomotive ($19.95).

“These battery-operated toys are the most popular ones we carry right now,” Dunn said. “We can barely keep them stocked.”

Victor’s, which has been in Reseda since 1950, also carries a special line of wooden craft kits. The kits come complete with glue and all necessary materials for $6.99 to $9.95.

At the Animal Kracker-Treehouse, prices are slightly higher than those at Toys R Us or Kaybee Toys, but Faranesh said this is because she buys only the highest-quality toys.

“I don’t buy anything without first touching it and playing with it myself,” Faranesh said. “If I’m personally satisfied with the product, then I’ll allow it in my store.”

One of Faranesh’s favorites are her ceramic children’s music boxes--flying airplanes, teddy bears, circus setups and musical dolls--priced at $25 to $39.

Faranesh also carries old-fashioned spinning tops, wooden puzzles and fun books for children, such as one about “Face Painting” that includes a set of paints and sponges for $14.95.

In Faranesh’s library, there is a section of adult books about children’s self-esteem and children’s health.

“This is my main stop for birthday presents, especially when I’m in a hurry,” said Dee Braverman of Encino, who has shopped at the Animal Kracker-Treehouse for years. “Abbey knows exactly what the children like, and I don’t have to spend an hour shopping.”

Michelle Marquit of Encino said she has enjoyed shopping at Animal Kracker-Treehouse because of Faranesh’s personal touch and the unique books in the children’s book room.

At The Developing Child, the Sklar siblings are aware of the presumption that small toy stores are more expensive. For that reason, they make certain that 80% of their merchandise costs $15.95 or less.

“People think you have to spend a fortune to buy really high-quality toys, and that just isn’t true anymore,” Roberta Sklar said.

The Developing Child is the largest distributor of PlayMobil toys on the West Coast, and that is another reason customers who stop in often return again and again. When customers enter the store, they are confronted with two displays stacked high with PlayMobil toys and accessories, including theme sets (such as a circus set, train set, safari set, zoo set, ranch set, etc.) which range in price from $60 to $80, although some larger, electronic sets cost as much as $300.

The center of the store is taken up with a multilevel arts and crafts center filled with toys by Creativity for Kids, an Ohio-based company that makes craft kits. Each kit--such as those for quilting kit and doll-making (each for $15.95)--has inside everything the child needs to make that specific craft.

One of the hottest selling toy lines at The Developing Child is the Battat Band Series. Battat makes high-quality toy instruments, each of which plays music and has one other additional function. Although lots of toy-makers manufacture toy pianos and drum sets, Battat makes a children’s accordion, saxophone, xylophone, harmonica, tambourine and a five-piece baby’s rhythm band that range in price from $10.95 to $24.95.

Each of the stores also carries a wide array of small toys that make excellent stocking stuffers or party favors.

“The reason you don’t find as many tiny toys at the larger stores is because they are afraid they’ll be stolen,” Dunn said. “We aren’t too worried about that because we spend individual time with our customers.”

But as with any toy store, children are the ultimate critics.

“This is the only kind of toy store that’s any fun,” said Matt, 7, of Encino, as he played with a Brio wooden train set at The Discovering Child. “We don’t get in trouble just because we like to play with the toys.”