Veach’s Toy Station

I love this place and have for 30 years. They have everything you could imagine for babies, toddlers, geeky kids, girly girls, even grownups. My three-​year-​old son loves to come here and play with the toys and models they have set up around the store. He likes the marble maze, the Calico Critters house and the train table.
However, Veach’s can be extremely costly. My son has been very into trains lately, so I looked at getting him a wooden track expansion kit for the stuff he already has. The 15 piece Fisher-​Price set at Veach’s was a whopping $ 54.99. For those playing along at home, that’s about $ 3.75 a piece. Amazon is selling the exact same product for $ 26.99. I can appreciate a few dollars’ difference when you’re talking about dealing with an independent small business versus a giant corporation, but twice the price seems a little steep. Other things were priced at or slightly above what Amazon was asking, so I’m not sure where they came up with the $ 55 figure for a few wooden train tracks. The baby toys seem slightly overpriced as well.
My advice is to bring a smartphone and do some comparisons before you buy. At the very least, it’s great for letting your kids browse and finding out what they’re really drawn to.

Veach’s is the spot for finding unusual or unique toys, educational materials, models, trains ans more! They even have classes and activities for kids, varying by age, throughout the month.
You’ll pay a little more here for items than you might expect but what you find here isn’t much of what you’d find elsewhere.
Oh and they have ice cream now. Bonus.
Oh, one more thing. Yes. They still have the birthday castle. It’s not the same as when I was a kid, but it’s there!

When I was little and we first moved to Richmond, Veach’s was a five and dime – a discount store, like Kresge’s, also on Main Street.
My mum and my aunt would take my cousins and me downtown to buy school clothes because there was no Gateway Shopping Center yet, where Ayr-​way would open and Kresge’s would relocate. After we tried the clothes, we would be free to go downstairs and behave ourselves and look at the toys.
Now, Veach’s is a toy store, just a toy store. They did something on 10^th Street at one time but it’s all in the original location now. What’s awesome is that NBC’s Today Show contacted the owners and they did a makeover and that’s great because it’s their 75^th anniversary.
At 75, they are probably the oldest remaining business in town.
I hope that they’re still there to reach 100.

This place was a staple of my childhood, and I’m so glad to see the place is still going strong. When I was a wee lad, a trip to Veach’s was like going to Disney World. I stopped in to pick up a gift for a birthday party and had so many options to choose from. I can’t wait to bring my kids to this place as they get a little older.