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Froggie’s 5 & 10 and Betty Lou have been missed.

While they’re small shops, the sister toy and gift boutiques have big local followings. Customers who shopped the longtime Knox Street stores have already discovered their combined 4,700 square feet in their new East Dallas location.

“It’s a good vibe here,” said Froggie’s manager Chase Bilbrey, who has lived in East Dallas for many years. “We’ve had people waiting for us to reopen and others have come by who are new to the neighborhood.”

The stores, which have separate entrances but connect on the inside, opened a week ago in the Hillside Village shopping center on the northeast corner of Mockingbird Lane and Abrams Road. Froggie’s has a Nickelodeon ambiance and Betty Lou’s always sassy greeting card selection is toward the back of the shop that sells home décor, seasonal gifts, candles and books.

A smaller kid-sized entrance door on the Froggie’s side “has been a huge hit,” said 81-year-old owner Anne McGilvray. She’s a longtime Lakewood resident so the new location makes it easy for her to drop in on the stores, Bilbrey said.

McGilvray’s Dallas-based namesake wholesale business that she runs with her two daughters is one of the largest in the U.S. It has four showrooms and more than 20,000 retail customers. Froggie’s and Betty Lou are her pet projects.

The stores were almost 25-year fixtures on Knox, but closed in January due to a combination of the pandemic, being on the block between two major construction projects and a lease expiring.

The inside of the new Froggie’s 5 & 10 toy and gift shop location in Hillside Village shopping center has a nostalgic Nickelodeon ambiance. The shopping center is on the northeast corner of Mockingbird Lane and Abrams Road in Dallas.

The plan was to open last spring, but construction delays and other issues pushed back the date to December. Two marquee exterior signs — the last fixtures that are still missing — will soon be delivered, McGilvray said.

Froggie’s sells toys, games and children’s books and its specialty is nostalgia.

“Our focus is on the toys to live or relive your childhood,” Bilbrey said.

His current personal favorite toy is a model of Evil Knievel’s stunt motorcycle. If you’re looking for Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, puppets and whoopee cushions, they’re in the mix. There’s also a wall of children’s books, sodas and candy from the 1970s. Bilbrey will explain to your children that Bit-o-Honey candy will taste better and soften up after it’s been in your pocket a while.

Hillside Village shopping center in Dallas on the northeast corner of Mockingbird Lane and Abrams Road is being renovated and added new tenants including Froggie’s 5 & 10 and Betty Lou. Sprouts Farmers Market plans to open there in the former Stein Mart.

Hillside Village shopping center in Dallas on the northeast corner of Mockingbird Lane and Abrams Road is being renovated and added new tenants including Froggie’s 5 & 10 and Betty Lou. Sprouts Farmers Market plans to open there in the former Stein Mart.