The Parent & Teacher Store

Quite the secret, this is a combined educational resource and toy store that would do either well for either purpose but which is terrific as a combination. Quality toy brands (Melissa and Doug, German brands, etc.) in the toy store part with a nice variety of educational and science toys/​projects, a variety of standard classroom instruction rewards, materials, flash cards, etc., in another room, a bonus room of a mixture of things, and then a tiny little bargain mark-​down room in the back (a converted closet??), and finally an art room which has a few unusual things (and teacher-​ish things, like rubber stamps for marking papers) plus a small assortment of the standard art supplies.
A huge bonus is they have a play room, walled off with glass, right off the toys. So you can park the littles there, do some toy shopping, and still keep an eye on them while you’re trying to keep them from fiddling with the toys for sale (good luck with that, though).
The only real downside is you’ll pay full retail on the toys and related items. If you can handle that, an excellent place for last-​minute birthday gift shopping.
The location is awkward to get to: coming south on Route 9, you have to take the exit for the Latham traffic circle and then there’s an entrance to the parking lot for the little corner strip mall on the right. If you miss it, just take your first exit out of the circle, and head west on 2, and then take your first right to get into the parking lot and head back into the corner. If you’re coming from any other direction other than 9 South, you have to get into the traffic circle and exit into the parking lot drive. That includes if you’re heading east on 2 (doing a loop around and heading back the way you came). It’s not at all obvious.
Now, some suggestions here. I understand the place is under new ownership, and here’s some things that could be improved. First off, the staff were many but they were clustered up at the register. With that number of staff, having a floater to help customers in the other rooms would be a plus. Secondly, the place is obscure; recognizing the location is fixed, changing the name and/​or advertising more generally about the broader array of things at the store would probably drive foot traffic. Finally, because of the variety of rooms, a little directory at the front of the store would be really welcome.

A good go to teacher store in the area. It has all that you need for your classroom-​there is a wide array of bulletin board décor, all kinds of books to get scaffolds and worksheets from, classroom banners/​posters. I went in to get a calender, desk plates, décor and I found it all and I found the variety of options quite thrilling :) The teacher section is towards the left side when you enter. There’s also a lot of educational games and kits if you are a parent or someone looking for a gift for a child.