Century-old Mamaroneck toy store evokes childhood nostalgia

(Photo by Theresa Juva)

The old-fashioned big-wheel bicycle hanging on a wall in Miller’s, a toy and bike shop, isn’t the only thing that transports people back to the past.

“Our customers say that (the store) evokes memories of their own childhood,” said owner Taka Andrews, whose wife’s great-grandfather started the business. “It’s constantly overflowing with unique toys you don’t see anywhere — or anymore.”

Joseph Miller first opened a bicycle and baby carriage shop in Harlem in 1908. In 1948, a son, Irving, moved the store Mamaroneck Avenue before settling across the street at 335 Mamaroneck Ave, the current location. By the 1950 and 60s, the bike shop also began thriving as a toy store.

Taka Andrews, and his wife, Brooke, took over the business in 2003.

Today the store offers children’s clothing, books, bicycles, outdoor play equipment, and toys from around the world — but nothing “with a screen on it,” Andrews said.

“It’s toys that inspire creativity and imagination and gets you off the couch and enjoying being a kid,” he said.

Read more about this in an upcoming Sunday edition of the Sound Shore Express.