Kiddlywinks

What a find! Very surprised to find such a great toy store in little olé Placerville. It’s worth driving to from Wherever. Great selection of merchandise and very friendly staff.

Hubby and I popped in yesterday because we were attracted by their wonderful Santa and sock monkey display on the window. We received a warm welcome upon entrance. It’s the kind of toy store that brings you back to your childhood, but at the same token, they carry many trendy toys, i.e., Minecraft, etc., as well.
Overall, it’s a quaint store with well-​rounded items for the entire family to enjoy. By the way, the sock monkey is enjoying his new dig at our home…
When in town, be sure to pay this place a visit!

I am surprised by the two negative reviews because they are quite contrary to what I experienced, so I thought I’d share my two cents. My mom lives near Placerville and she’d had a number of positive experiences at Kiddlywinks, so I had a positive outlook about it. When I was quite pregnant with #2, I wanted to get baby doll for my 2-​year-​old, and I really wanted it to be one that she had gotten to choose. Kiddlywinks seemed like a better store than a big box store for this kind of choosing. My mom met me at the store, and the gal (the owner) was warm and helpful. I felt funny about my daughter playing with the toys that were out, but the owner showed me that for each of the dolls she had a sample out that my daughter could hold and examine, to help her decide. My mom also asked the owner if she could open a pots and pans set to see if my daughter would like to play with it, and the owner agreed warmly. We were careful, but I got the feeling that she was more generous than stingy in her approach, especially considering that two-​year-​olds are still learning how to be gentle and careful with things. I haven’t been back only because it is a long drive, and we get most of our toys second hand — if I were to buy new toys in a physical store, I would by them here, every time. Great, thoughtful selection, pleasant layout, and good staff.

RUDE and SOUR owner!
I went there with my wife and our 16-​month-​old son on our way back from Tahoe to get some xmas presents to our relatives.
I got a display pig toy and handled to my son who put on the floor next to other toys to play with, then a lady, apparently the owner, was so RUDE taking the pig from my son’s hands saying: «this is a $ 40 toy, if it gets dirt I can’t sell it» putting it away onto a high shelf. My first reaction was to be patient enough to ignore her even though I did not agree with her attitude, if she intended to sell it she shouldn’t have removed it from the original package and made it a display item in first place.
A few minutes later she came to me asking about how my day was in a desperate attempt to fix the discomfort she caused earlier on. So far so good.
Right after that she went around putting all out-​of-​the-​place toys back to their shelves and asked my wife TO NOT LET MY SON GET BACK TO THE PUPPETS shelf again in a really RUDE manner that caused my wife to return all items we picked to our relatives back to their shelves canceling a $ 100+ purchase.
Come on, this is a toy store and as such they should expect kids playing and touching toys, specially the display ones.
Our son is a lovely curious child, we never had any problem with him in any store before, that lady caused us a really bad discomfort so I can only assume she’s in the wrong business if she can’t deal with kids, unless she only expects customers with no kids at all which is very unlikely.

Coolest toy shop ever. Unique items and a killer vibe, I was impressed. The lady who was there was super nice to, I think she was the owner. Helped us find my son the coolest toy, a little fire truck that is now his favorite. Good service and good stuff recommend to anyone for finding some unique fun presents.

Great little toy store, hole in the wall Placerville store. What I like about this store is the fact that they have the unique toys you can’t find at the local Target, Walmart. I noticed a nice mix of fun toys and educational toys.

I needed a gift for my nephew’s birthday (turning 5), and after a recommendation from a friend, I went to Kiddlywinks, in downtown Placerville near the Cary House Hotel. I had a wonderful experience there!
The owner of the shop was the one working, and she gave me great suggestions, at various price points, for my nephew’s gift. She even had examples of some of the toys (like remote controlled cars, and some learning toys) outside of the box, so she could demonstrate what they’re like, and I could look at them more closely. She clearly had fun trying out all the toys, and her enjoyment was infectious.
The store was lovely, and although it looks small from the outside, there is an amazing amount of stuff inside, and it’s well-​organized. They have games, toys, and novelty items, and although they seemed to have all the popular mainstream stuff, many of their things are unique or unusual — not the run-​of-​the-​mill over-​advertised stuff you will find at big box stores.
I followed her advice, and my gifts were a big hit, and I didn’t have to go over my budget to get interesting and exciting toys. I will be returning to Kiddlywinks for my niece’s birthday, Christmas, and whenever else I need a nice children’s gift.
Oh, and the owner gets bonus points because we had a great conversation about dogs, and although the store is not appropriate to bring dogs into, the owner has been known to rush to the door to say hello to passing pooches. :-)