Wonder Works nearly doubles its Belle Hall toy store

Wonder Works has nearly doubled the size of its Mount Pleasant store. The shop at Belle Hall Shopping Center on Long Point Road has grown from 3,500 square feet to nearly 6,000. The added space makes room for Melissa and Doug, Tonies, LEGO and Mattel, larger interactive play areas, community programs, visiting children's book authors and charity events. Owner Elizabeth Darby, known as Schnookie, started working there at 14 and took over from co-founder Christine Osborne in 2021. Her mother and sister worked there too. Wonder Works opened in 1990 and now has three stores, in Mount Pleasant, West Ashley and downtown Charleston. The cost of the expansion was not disclosed. A local toy shop growing while national chains close is worth cheering. If you have more room than people realize, the surrounding neighborhoods are the cheapest audience to tell.