Every town needs a place like Imaginations. They seem to be interested in filling every kid-related niche they can. They offer a wide selection of high-quality toys -- not the mass-produced, flimsy plastic toys of Toys 'R' Us and Walmart, but toys meant to last a generation and stimulate children's imaginations. They carry wooden toys of all sorts -- both the well-known Thomas and Brio trains as well as the lesser-known Plan Toys (maker of dollhouses and other pretend play toys) and similar. In addition to toys, they stock furniture, also very high-quality, mainly intended to furnish children's rooms, though futons and other college-age appropriate items are also available.
In addition to selling the toys and furniture of the company name, they also offer classroom space for small ventures (my children took a Spanish class there for a while), and they stock a wide selection of homeschooling materials (hard to find elsewhere, particularly in a small market like Blacksburg).
The store offers free gift wrapping, and their sales associates are friendly and helpful. They welcome families who come in just to play, knowing that if you don't buy this time you'll come back again when you do need to make a purchase. The prices are somewhat high (Barnes and Noble is the only point of reference on this, but their Thomas trains and books are slightly discounted relative to Imaginations) but given the quality of the products available and the wide selection it's worth the price.
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