MATTHEW COURTER/Sun-Gazette Nicole Desaulniers, owner of The Mulberry Moose, is flanked by Lycoming County Chamber of Commerce president Jason Fink and Williamsport Mayor Derek Slaughter for a ribbon-cutting with confetti during the new store’s grand opening.

In 2018, Toys R Us near the former Lycoming Mall closed, leaving the area largely devoid of a shop devoted to children and babies toys, but that all changed last month with the grand opening of the Mulberry Moose, 423 Mulberry Street.

“I always wanted to open up either a donut shop or a toy store,” owner Nicole Desaulniers said.

“But I don’t know anything about the restaurant business or how to make donuts,” she joked.

Desaulniers holds a masters in marine biology and worked in the field for 10 years until the birth of her children, when she decided to slow down and raise her family.

After a move to Delaware, Desaulniers began working at Kids Catch, a toy store in the beach town of Lewes, starting as the store’s social media website manager, as well as working in the store, but by the end of her tenure, was running the store.

Desaulniers would later relocate to the area three years ago.

“I’ve had friends that live in Oval for 30 years, and I’ve been visiting here for 25 years. I just thought, I’ll try a new spot. And I really like this area,” she said.

Referring to this stage of her life as her “third act,” Desaulniers said she wanted to bring something special to the community.

“It’s really important to me that this be a place that is inclusive and happy,” she said of her store.

“These little kids, their eyes get big when they walk in the door, and they just warm up to the place. And the parents enjoy it,” she said.

The store carries a wide assortment of items from 58 different vendors, ranging from Eeboo puzzles, to plushies to outdoor toys, to trains and a large section of games and baby products.

And that stock will grow as the store will soon carry a fall and winter line of baby clothes, sized zero to 18 months.

“I handpicked everything in this store. There’s nothing that I said, ‘just give me an assortment of this or that,” Desaulniers explained. “I was really trying to make sure I had a little bit of everything here.”

“A lot of people have asked me about Hot Wheels and Legos, but I’m not going that direction. I really tried to stay away from what you can find at Target and Walmart,” she said.

The Mulberry Moose offers a number of other perks that sets it apart from other retailers, Desaulniers said, including a loyalty program, where shoppers can earn 2% for every dollar spent, and the option to have items wrapped during the holiday season.

She also envisions adding registries to her list of options.

“That’s kind of my second year plan, I’d like to reach out to the assisted living community, and do little presentations for anyone that has grandkids, but can’t get out, and we can do personal shopping for them,” she said.

“We’re also working with local libraries, to possibly have the children come here after story time and do some type of craft, just hang out and maybe have a snack on the porch,” Desaulniers said.

Plans are also underway to reach out to daycares and area specialty shops to work together on complimenting events, and possibly a bulletin board at the shop to promote other local happenings.

One of the most crucial aspects of the store was to keep prices as affordable as possible.

“Some people call this kind of shop a boutique, and I think that scares people into thinking these prices are gonna be crazy high,” Desaulniers said.

“But I really tried to keep things in this $15 to $30 range, but I also have a ton of stuff under $15,” she stressed.

The personalized touch of the store is also a strong selling point for Desaulniers.

“Amazon is great, but you’re not going to see the products here unless you go to a specialty toy store,” she said.

“And, something that’s really important to me is that my staff knows how to play the games here, because you can’t talk to people about something you don’t understand, and that you don’t know how to play,” she said.

And, the reception from the public has been overwhelmingly positive, Desaulniers said.

“People have been really happy they’re gonna have a toy store in town,” she said.

“Everyone tells me about Krim’s Toys that was here in the eighties and early nineties, and they’re just really happy something’s coming that brings that kind of same energy to the community,” she said.

“And, I’m just really happy to be welcomed in, because I’m not from here originally. I was a military kid, so I grew up moving around, and I continued that as an adult, but I’m planning on staying here,” she said.

For Desaulniers, there’s no doubt that she made the right decision for her “third act.”

“There’s so few neighborhood toy stores because you’re not going to get rich owning a toy store. You have to have a passion for it and you have to enjoy being around people and playing and just having fun,” she stressed.

“I just want people to smile. There’s a thing called third spaces. We have three, with the first space generally being your home, the second space is generally your work, or school for kids,” she said.

“And there’s a third space. And that could be so many different places,” she explained.

“I would like this to be a third space, where people come on a Saturday when they don’t have anything planned, and shop while the kids play in our play area,” Desaulniers said.

For more information on The Mulberry Moose, please visit www.themulberrymoose.com, or check out their Facebook page.