Dafel finds a home

Dafel finds a home

Dafel, one of the city’s oldest toy stores, has found a new home after being forced to leave its 77-year residence in the Block Arcade.

CBD News reported in May that Dafel was leaving the Block Arcade after the rent had almost doubled in a year.

Mother and daughter owners Pauline Seaton and Lisa Brener found an affordable new home in the historic Howey Place after three months.

“A lot of people thought we weren’t reopening so we’ve had a lot of excited customers finding us,” Ms Brener said.

In the 1800s the site held Cole’s Book Arcade – complete with two million books and a variety of toys.

“We’re actually quite excited to have a toy store back in Howey Place, to bring history back,” Ms Brener said.

“On the windows of all the stores on 234 Collins there’s the story of Edward Cole and the history of Howey Place.”

“It’s full of a lot of history when you start to do some research, it’s quite fascinating.”

Ms Brener has run the store with her mother for the past 25 years.

“We’re the last doll hospital in the city. We’re very different. We just specialise in good quality toys, old fashioned toys.”

Like us on Facebook