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Made in the 956: Keeping memories alive at T&E Treasures

Made in the 956: Keeping memories alive at T&E Treasures
2 weeks 4 days 17 hours ago Tuesday, March 11 2025 Mar 11, 2025 March 11, 2025 2:10 PM March 11, 2025 in News - Local
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Sometimes as adults, we look back on our childhood and all the great memories it came with.

Many of us have held on to a toy that means the world to us. There's a toy store in the Rio Grande Valley that's keeping those memories alive.

T&E Treasures is this week's made in the 956.

The shop is filled with toys that take most of us back to our childhood.

"The items we have, you can't find them anywhere else," T&E Treasures owner Erica Saenz said.

As you walk into T&E Treasures in Mission off of Bryan Road, you'll see a unique assortment of plushies, dolls and toys all from different decades.

"We're having so much fun, and the people that walk in here, you're having fun when you walk in here...everything that you want and everything that brings back memories, this is an amazing feeling," Saenz said.

It started out as a booth at her families store next door. Saenz started out with a Winnie-the-Pooh collection and saw the success she had.

FOR MORE MADE IN THE 956 STORIES, CLICK HERE.

"I was like, 'hey I'm going to bring some of my collection from my home to sell here,' and we saw it sold so quickly and some people, when they would find their childhood plush, just their excitement in their face, I was like I love this," Saenz said.

From then on, she started looking for vintage plushies and now the store has a whopping 10,000 plushies.

"A lot of our customers are adults because they're looking for their childhood plush," Saenz said.

At the shop, you can find anything from Beetlejuice to Scooby-Doo to the Flintstones and much more. You can find older plushies and newer ones of all sizes.

Saenz says she gets customers from all over the country.

"We have people tell us, 'we're from New York, Louisiana.' We also ship worldwide, so we ship to those places," Saenz said.

If they don't have what you're looking for, they can also hunt it down and order it for you.

"We also have our connection, which I cannot say where we go, and we actually bring weekly 500 new arrivals every week here. It's just a ton of treasures, but the thing is, we never know what comes out of those boxes," Saenz said.

Saenz went on to express what this shop means to her.

"I am a Latina female business owner, just those words mean so much to me and to so many others," Saenz said. "We have customers that walk in, and be like 'ohh my gosh,' like wow, their faces just light up, when they walk in, because this place is full of treasures," Saenz said.

T&E Treasures was recently featured on the Texas Bucket List that airs on Saturdays on Channel 5.

Because of her recent fame, she's gotten calls to her store about what she has available.

Right now, Saenz is on the hunt for a bigger location that will allow her to expand her shop and the number of collectibles she offers.

"I want something at least 9,000 square feet. I want to be the world's largest plushie toy store," Saenz said.

T&E Treasures is Made in the 956.

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