December 18, 2025 – Elm “Buddy” Wood Jr. greeted holiday shoppers on a recent Tuesday as the morning sun beamed through the glass front doors of Le Jouet toy store on Airline Drive.
In a room behind him, store employees were tearing off sheets of colorful paper from huge rolls mounted to the wall as they wrapped presents. In the showroom, customers hunted for treasures among the roughly 10,000 toys, games, dolls, hobby supplies and bikes on display as traffic raced by just outside the shop’s side windows.