Tiddlywinks Toys & Games
If the Game of Life had custom spaces to represent her life as an entrepreneur, for Jeanie Viveros they would say things like: “find a community like Orange,” “develop friendships with longtime customers” and “watch families and children grow.”
The reward for landing on these spaces? Priceless.
Viveros, co-owner of Tiddlywinks Toys & Games, reopened the store at a new and larger location at 169 North Glassell St. in March. The ribbon-cutting ceremony drew the Orange Chamber of Commerce and a wide range of community supporters.
“We were so surprised and touched by the number of customers, community leaders and friends there to celebrate with us,” Viveros says. “It was truly such a special day for us.”
The new location provides space for an extended library and has allowed Viveros and her husband, Gil, to host birthdays, classes and other events. Viveros hopes to eventually expand to more locations.
Tiddlywinks opened in 2012 in Old Towne, bringing the community a place to experience new and vintage toys. Selling jump ropes, board games and wind-up toys, to mini scooters, baseball sets and aero drones, there’s a wide variety of toys for children, as well as adults.
The pandemic forced the closure of the physical store in 2020, but the owners quickly pivoted to an online presence to continue serving the community. It was important not to close up shop completely, because a toy is so much more than a toy to the owners.
Toys are about reclaiming fond memories of childhood, and today’s children developing memories they will remember well into adulthood, Viveros says.
• • •
“Tiddlywinks is a store that brings so much joy to everyone. You are greeted with friendly smiles and warm conversation and you can’t help but feel at home.”
Leanne Sargeant, customer
• • •
“When we both think back to childhood, it’s always summer,” Viveros says. “Playing jump rope, riding bikes, playing marbles and jacks. There would always be a friend in the neighborhood to play with. We played from sunup to sundown, with the rules being we had to be home and inside by the time it was dark.”
In 2016, a family of four having a baby girl came in to Tiddlywinks to purchase a pink baby doll to surprise their two young boys right in the store.
“It was a very secretive shopping mission,” says Viveros. “I wrapped it in generic-looking gift wrap, and they both unwrapped it to reveal the dolly.”
Leanne Sargeant first discovered the store in 2014 shortly after she purchased a home in Orange. She was pregnant at the time and wandered the aisles, reliving her own childhood and imagining the toys she would buy for her baby.
It became a regular stop for Sargeant and her daughter, Juliette, when they would walk through the Plaza. Juliette now has a collection of Jellycat stuffed toys from the store.
“Tiddlywinks is a store that brings so much joy to everyone,” Sargeant says. “You are greeted with friendly smiles and warm conversation and you can’t help but feel at home.”
Longtime customer Sandy Taylor agrees. Taylor and her husband came to the store when it first opened to purchase gifts for their nieces and nephews.
“Everything was hands-on and you were encouraged to touch, play and experience all the sweet details that made Tiddlywinks shine above so many other spots locally,” Taylor says.
When the couple adopted two daughters, Viveros continued to give them the personal touch they needed for their children’s gifts. Even during the pandemic, the owners put together Easter baskets with the perfect gifts for the children receiving them.
Taylor says Viveros treats her like a friend, rather than a customer. “She has always made me smile and feel so loved, and made our daughters feel like true kids in a candy shop—except they were living their dreams as kids in Tiddlywinks, the best toy store in town!” says Taylor.
Tiddlywinks Toys & Games
169 North Glassell St., Old Towne Orange, CA 92866 / 714-997-8697
