Disappointed, but store but or really a museum or factory. Same imported teddy bear stuff that be seen anywhere. Not worth a drive unless you are in Chelsea anyway.
One of my roommates is a fan of Plants vs Zombies. She have collected nearly all the toys of the characters in the game. It is a routine to see her fetch packages up and down and tear the package. All her toys are ordered in toyswill shop and there are much more other toys sold. She told me that she had a dream of buying all the toys sold in the shop to make those toys surround her when she sleeps.a href="http://www.toyswill.com/limited-edition-love-teddy-bear-plush-toys-forever-hearts-bear-p-2147.html/">teddy bear toysIt may be a way to gain a sense of safety by the companion of those toys for her. But it is really a problem to find a place storing so many toys.
This was an interesting place as I had no idea that it existed until seeing a billboard along Interstate 94. I purchased a couple of bears with my grandchildren's names on them to use as gifts. It also has a display of historical items, some of which are rare and not seen often.
Factory Tour is a gross misnomer. Fifteen minute talk in the showroom, followed by standing behind a barrier in the employee break room overlooking piles of boxes of teddy bears made in China. Looks like only two bears made there, by one full time and one part time seamstress (who weren't working because the "tours" are only on Saturdays). They get you there to shop the showroom. Real waste of time.
I took a group of adults with cognitive disAbilities here and boy were we disappointed. The "museum" tour is sort of neat... telling the history of teddy bears but it is VERY short. When we went on the "factory tour" we walked back and listened to the staff person tell us a few things about the bears as well as show us the largest teddy bear in the US (or something like that). When we first went back the staff person remarked surprisingly "oh, I guess (insert name of teddy bear maker) isn't working today so we really can't see how they are made" .... ok? We had called over a month in advance to arrange the tour... would just have liked a little more. If I went back I would lower my expectations, maybe this is more fun for small children? Also there is a single room bathroom so if you have a large group and everyone needs to go.... seek other places.
We visited the teddy bear toy store, factory and museum after touring the Jiffy Mix plant. We thought that the teddy bear factory was a local made in the USA business like the Jiffy Mix plant. We were wrong the toy store is filled with "Made in Indonesia" and "Made in China" teddy bears and stuffed animals. Out of the entire store there were 3 made in their factory, 2 flat bears and 1 nice looking bear for $65. We were very disappointed in the way we were miss led.
This is mostly a retail store that sells teddy bears that are made in Indonesia. Apparently you can make one on Saturdays but there are expensive. Glad we did not go to Chelsea just for that but it is across the street from Jiffy Mix tour so no biggy to go there.
There are billboards advertising "free factory tour" so we took our 4 year old because he loves to see how things are made and loves stuffed animals. Did not realize this would be a 15 minute history lesson on the teddy bear, come to find out that they do not assemble most of the bears in the USA and the tour consisted of a step into the back room and the ability to get a picture with the "Worlds Largest Real Teddy Bear". This was a waste of our time!
We were visiting the area and found out about the factory tours so made a point of stopping. The girl who did our tour was extremely knowledgable and we enjoyed listening to her and even talking to her more after the tour was over. The only disappointing part was that you really could not tour the entire factory. We really were only allowed to walk into the door of the facility and take pictures of the world's largest stuffed bear. It was explained that some areas were under construction and due to insurance risks, they could not let us walk through. All in all it was still fun, just a little bit disappointing.
The museum consists of couple cases full of old toys and offers some information about history of teddy bears. It's worth a visit if you are passing by.The shop that contains the museum offers mostly bears made in China and Indonesia. Check the label before you buy!