After two decades of ‘magic,’ Waterbury toy store prepares to close
July 2, 2025 | By Devan Pierce | Community News Service
Sally and Bob Dain at The Tiny Acorn in Waterbury on March 2, 2025. The Dains have run the toy store together for 21 years. Photo by Devan Pierce
In the heart of Waterbury Village, there’s a toy store called The Tiny Acorn. Sally and Bob Dain have owned and run the store for two decades. At the end of this summer, they plan to retire. The Tiny Acorn will close on August 15.
🎧 This story was produced for the ear. We highly recommend listening to the audio. We’ve also provided a transcript below.
A puppet rack in the entrance to The Tiny Acorn’s toy room on March 2, 2025. The toy room features toys meant for children ages 2-13. Other toys in the toy room include LEGO sets, puzzles and science-centric toys. Photo by Devan Pierce
Sally Dain: The Tiny Acorn is 21 years old.
Bob Dain: We’re one of the oldest, still-under-the-same-ownership stores in Waterbury.
Sally Dain: And this is going to be our last year.
Sally Dain sits at the computer by the register checking their stock of toys as Bob Dain watches over her shoulder. Bob and Sally Dain co-own and run The Tiny Acorn. They are the only employees at the store.
The Tiny Acorn was a dream. After being a children’s librarian in Waterbury for many, many years, I realized things were changing, and I wanted to do something different. And so I took a women’s small business class, and The Tiny Acorn was born.
“If you have a dream of running a toy store, do it. Take a chance.”
Alright, so as you enter The Tiny Acorn, you’re greeted with magic. You experience joy for the first time when you look in, into our entrance. We usually have it based on holidays, whatever holiday’s coming up. And, you know, we wrap presents and put them up for display. We just do whatever makes us feel joy.
Bob Dain: I would say the average day is one of glee for the kids coming into the store, because it definitely attracts them. In fact, there are many days when I’m looking out the door and I see kids coming out of the Village Market food store with their mother or father, and they see The Tiny Acorn, and they grab them and they want to pull them over.
Sometimes the kids are quite persuasive and they get their way. Sometimes the parent has to say, ‘No, I’ve got ice cream in the bag here.’ And it’s the middle of August. But the parents realize that we have things that are child useful, as far as their mind and their hands to interact with.
And I think what also makes it fun for adults is they see things and it reminds them of their childhood.
Sally Dain: We have these glass animals. They’re tiny. We’ve been selling them from the beginning. And we have kids come in and select some. But their parent or grandparent will say, ‘Oh, I bought those when I was a little child!’ You can have three generations here going through our glass animals. So that’s kind of neat to see that. And we see that a lot.
Bob turned 80 in November. We celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in October. We have grandkids we don’t see that often. And we just knew that it was time.
Glass animals at The Tiny Acorn. Photo by Devan Pierce
Bob Dain: I think the next step in our lives after The Tiny Acorn will be exploration. We can go on day trips. Trying out new things. And perhaps doing a day or two of volunteering somewhere.
Sally Dain: We’ll miss the tiger. And I’ll miss the giraffe greeting me, and the polar bear. We’ll miss these friends in the store. But maybe somebody will continue with our tiger and giraffe, and we can come in and say hello.
It’s been fun. Because you’re almost playing every day. So if you have a dream of running a toy store, do it. Take a chance.
A large stuffed tiger holding a neatly wrapped present can be found above the cash register in the “Red Room” of the Tiny Acorn. The giant stuffed giraffe is in the same room. Photo by Devan Pierce
The University of Vermont’s Community News Service is an internship program that provides Vermont news outlets with reporting, including the Waterbury Roundabout. Music in this story is “Chafftop” by Blue Dot Sessions.