The Acorn Store
A toy store on 5th Street in downtown Santa Monica, a short walk from the Promenade.

Los Angeles keeps its little shops the way it keeps everything else — spread wide. Santa Monica and the bay hold four, two of them side by side in the Brentwood Country Mart. Pasadena and the foothills hold three more, the Eastside two, the South Bay two, and the rest sit out across Venice, West LA, Culver City, Fairfax and Sherman Oaks. We've gathered 16 across 15 neighborhoods, each one hand-checked and chosen by eye, never a paid placement.
A toy store on 5th Street in downtown Santa Monica, a short walk from the Promenade.
A baby and children's boutique on Main Street in Ocean Park.
A toy store inside the Brentwood Country Mart on 26th Street.
A baby and children's clothing boutique in the Brentwood Country Mart.
A toy store on Lincoln Boulevard in Venice, open seven days a week.
A children's bookstore on West Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles.
A children's consignment boutique on Sepulveda Boulevard in Culver City, going since 2000.
Toys and books on North Madison Avenue in Pasadena's Playhouse Village.
A thirty-year-old toy and book shop on Mission Street in South Pasadena.
A children's bookstore on Honolulu Avenue in Montrose, calling itself America's oldest.
A vintage and pre-loved kids' boutique on York Boulevard in Highland Park.
Gently used children's things, new toys and local-maker gifts on Eagle Rock Boulevard.
A children's clothing boutique on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach.
A children's boutique on South Pacific Coast Highway in El Segundo.
A toy store inside the Original Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax.
A baby and children's boutique on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks.
Hand-picked toys, books and nursery things by age, occasion and budget — the online companion to these shops.
The independent shops we have found spread out the way Los Angeles does. Santa Monica and the bay hold four — The Acorn Store downtown, Caro Bambino in Ocean Park, and Toy Crazy and Poppy Store together in the Brentwood Country Mart. Pasadena and the foothills hold three more, the Eastside two, the South Bay two, and the rest sit across the Westside, Fairfax and Sherman Oaks. Every shop here is hand-checked.
Two: Children's Book World on West Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles, and Once Upon A Time Bookstore in Montrose, which calls itself America's oldest children's bookstore. Union Street Toys and The Dinosaur Farm carry books alongside toys.
Three on this list. Grow Kid Grow in Highland Park is a vintage and pre-loved kids' boutique, The Green Bean in Eagle Rock carries gently used children's things alongside new toys, and Noodles in Culver City has been taking children's clothing and baby gear on consignment since 2000.
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