Beaver Area kids’ childhoods are about to die a little bit once the beloved Castle Toys and Games closes its doors for the final time in the coming weeks.

Store owners Jeff and Linda Lyden announced their retirement at the end of September of this year with the store’s death date still undetermined. Castle Toys will remain open for the remainder of the holiday season and keep operating while inventory lasts.

The Lydens said their retirement was decided “with mixed feelings” since they love their customers so dearly.

Castle Toys opened in Beaver all the way back in 2009, meaning we all grew up with the store.

High schoolers recall fond memories of going to Castle Toys all through their childhood.

Nothing was better than having a tough, long day of practicing third grade multiplication tables to then come home to your mom telling you could pick out something from Castle Toys. You would run throughout the store making sure to play with each toy display in order to pick the best toy in the place.

Hold up, the only thing better than a spontaneous trip to Castle Toys was being invited to pick a toy from the amazing birthday vault. It was always so exciting to pick a wrapped gift (for free!) from the birthday vault.

Even as we grew up, Castle Toys stayed a great place in Beaver to buy gifts or even a a little something for ourselves. Castle Toys would even wrap your gifts for you!

When junior Ezra Maize was asked is he grew up with Castle Toys he said, “I have a very close connection with Castle Toys actually. A baby picture of me in a firefighter hat hangs in the store. Of course I loved shopping there too, and they were the best at wrapping presents.”

Through the years, Castle Toys has stood out from other toy stores like big-box Toy’s R Us because of their plethora of classic toys available and hometown feeling.

They carried the highest of quality toys such as games, science kits, crafts, music instrument toys, books, outdoor toys, trucks, and some of the softest stuffed animals on the planet.

And what most people don’t know is that Castle Toys has a sister store in Oakmont that opened in 2018. Since both the Beaver store and Oakmont store are under the same ownership, the Oakmont location also will close after the holiday season.

“I bought fidget spinners and slime there. It’s so gut wrenching that they are closing down,” senior Luke Paskey cried as he first found out the store would be closing, “Some of the stuff was super expensive, but I still bought it.”

As we finish our time with Castle Toys in Beaver, the shop will be running on reduced hours only on select days. They will remain closed Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Sales are up to 75% on select items, but more sales are to come closer to Christmas.

The deals are only available in store right now, but it’s worth the trip down memory lane to see our favorite local toy store one more time before, like childhood itself, it’s gone.