Despite the announcement of its closure last November, Monkey Mountain Toys & Games will be reopening its doors.

Thanks to the recent purchase by new owners, the McRae street landmark will live on.

Having been close friends with the store's previous owners, new co-owner Christina Mazur says after she decided to purchase the store after much consideration.

Mazur says she intends to keep the spirit of the store intact while adding her own flourishes.

"Having the history in the town was important. We thought about 'what if we just opened a different toy store,' and I said 'No, Monkey Mountain is Okotoks.' That heritage needs to stay. Even if it changes, it needs to be Monkey Mountain, everybody knows Monkey Mountain."

One major element of the redesign is the use of shelving units procured from another beloved toy store.

Mazur says she has fond memories of Livingstone & Cavell Extraordinary Toys, which closed its doors in January.

She entered the mostly empty shop after its closure, to find co-founder Edward Cavell finalizing some paperwork. Noticing "for sale" signs on the stores display shelves, Mazur explained her history with the store and offered to buy all of it, with the intention of giving the pieces new life in her own store.

Along honouring the spirit of both stores, Mazur intends to create a unique space to serve as a downtown hub.

She previously held a focus group for kids ten and up, to gauge what products and services they'd be interested in seeing.

Local kids had no shortage of ideas for the store's relaunch.

Plans for family friendly events are already in place, and Mazur says she also hopes to provide a spot for local mothers to stop in.

"I want to have somewhere for moms to go on main street, because as a mother in this town, there as nowhere to change a diaper or nurse a baby; that's this. We've already got the change tables ready to be installed once we paint and there's a nursing chair coming. Even if they don't buy anything, come in and use the space!"

Another goal set by the new owners is to bring back the store's monkey mascot: McRae.

Monkey Mountain's new owners plan to reopen the front portion of the store before Easter, with be rest of the store being developed in the following months.

With help from friends and family, and most recently a group from Okotoks Guiding, Mazur says the pieces are falling into place easily.

 

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