KAYSVILLE—It’s been 30 years since Yamil Castillo walked into a toy store to buy his son a train set and walked out as the new owner. The Red Balloon Toy Store has grown to seven locations and will soon open its eighth in Kaysville.

“I was about three or four when my grandparents gifted me a Brio train set,” said David Castillo, vice president of the Red Balloon. “My dad wanted to build on what we had. That store was the only one that carried a Brio train set in the country.”

When he walked in he saw that the store was for sale, Castillo said. “I guess the original owner had run it more as something to keep her busy but she thought it was time to sunset the business.”

Castillo said his dad didn't speak much English so his mother read the sign and explained it to him. “He was a student at Westminster College and a night store manager. He fell in love with it (the store). ”

He’s good at building relationships, said Castillo. “I try to model that after him.”

Now his dad focuses more on buying, Castillo said. “He takes the chance to get into the weeds whenever possible. He’ll go down to the warehouse and at Christmastime go into the stores.”

They chose the Kaysville site in part due to the store manager in the Sandy location, he said. “She moved to Roy and she’s incredible and wanted to keep her on. That drew our attention there.”

There’s also a big hole between the City Creek location and the Logan location, said Castillo. “That’s a big gap. That’s a lot of customers we aren’t serving. Customers already come to City Creek say they wish we had one in Davis County.”

The Red Balloon is going in at 352 N. Main Street next to the old Bennion Craft store where the city hopes to get a Trader Joe’s. “Most of the stores are 6,500-8,000 square feet. The Kaysville store will be in the 8,000 range. It feels very community-like.”

City Creek and Fashion Place are not our main DNA, Castillo said. “We want to be the neighborhood toy store. They’re great neighbors but what we know and are familiar with tends to help us thrive.”

In addition to the Brio train sets, the Red Balloon’s number one seller is Legos, said Castillo. “We’re a gold standard business with Lego and we get access to a good number of premiere sets, like the Titanic and Spider-man Daily Bugle. If you like minifigs, that set has the most I’ve seen.” 

Lego releases new stuff all of the time, he said. “Rivendell from Lord of the Rings was exclusively at Lego stores but on Aug. 1 they’ll launch at gold standard stores.”

The store also has other unique toys like Grandpa Beck board games and Playmobil, said Castillo. “Playmobil gives kids the chance to tell stories while they role play with the toys. It’s close to Yamil’s heart. It helped make his decision to buy.”

The focus of the store is on educational play, he said. “The mission is ‘Smart Choice, Smart Kids’ and ‘Make Time to Play.’ It’s an important phrase. I have three children the 8-year-old and 6-year-old’s schedule is already full with soccer, dance and gymnastics. My wife plans out when to spend time playing. It (store) empowers families to make time to play.”

The Kaysville store will open in August but the date is not firm yet, said Castillo. “We’re excited to be in Kaysville. I can feel in my gut that Kaysville is a great community and a great place to be.”

The Red Balloon will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of when Yamil bought the first store July 14, 15 during regular business hours 10 a.m - 8 p.m. at the current locations or online at redballoontoystore.com. Grandpa Beck will be signing games at the Sandy location on Friday.