The Daily Herald from Chicago, Illinois • Page 200

Daily Herald Friday, January 28,2000 ON THE Go Section 7 Just the right fit Woodworker pieces together business in children's puzzles hen it comes to family business, it doesn't come much more tightly knit than a West Dundee-based store called The Cubbyhole. In a sense, the first piece of the shop's puzzle came 24 years ago. That's when Steve and Debi Ciaccio's 5rst child was born. As a toddler, little Steve doubled as a test audience for his father's forays into educational-toy manufacturing. The Ciaccios had just bought a house, so economic necessity helped spark his efforts.

"One thing led to another," said elder Steve Ciaccio, who for five years was restaurant manager at The Embers in Bartlett. (Over the years, the restaurant has been transformed into what is now The Cadillac Ranch on Route 20). After about five years in that role, Ciaccio moved full-time into his woodworking business. Today, after 18 years at its 110 W. Main St.

site, the high-end educational-toy business is booming. Most of it comes without anyone setting foot inside the place 80 percent of the shop's volume, according to Ciaccio, is through national catalogs with which The Cubbyhole is linked. A number of Internet sites also feature The Cubbyhole's handiwork, so children in far-flung places like Hong Kong, England, Sweden and Canada are among those enjoying the fruits of this Fox Valley labor. What prompted the surge in long-distance work reveals that Ciaccio's creativity goes well beyond fashioning memorable gifts. Several years ago, as road-widening and bridge reconstruction of Illinois 72 loomed, Ciaccio sensed that he needed to diversify in order to compensate for what he rightly anticipated would be curtailed business traffic.

So, he focused more attention on the marketplace beyond the Fox Valley. It was a good move: In the United States alone, a child is born every eight seconds. Even before some of them arrive, they have names. The Cubbyhole capitalizes on that fact by personalizing just about anything it creates, including coat racks, step stools and puzzles. It also.imports fun items.such as rocking horses and "big belly" banks that give children a glimpse at watching a coin tumble into, say, a dinosaur's belly.

The toys, many of which are in the $15 to $30 range, are colorful and educational, from the alphabet to numbers to various shapes. But a big part of their appeal are the personalized touches. As Ciaccio explained, "It looks like you've really gone out of your way to find your child's name on it." The store offers about 40 types of wood puzzles the U.S. map is $29.95, a jungle safari is $17.95, Noah's ark is $16.95 and a clock is $16.95 to name a few. The Cubbyhole has donated items to a number of organizations for the developmentally disabled, such as Easter These friendly dinosaurs are actually children's banks.

They are a part of the educational toy display at The Cubbyhole toy store in West Dundee. Daily Herald Hankins Seals. And preschools are a frequent customer, in no small part because of the maple plywood from which the toys are made. "They're pretty much indestructible," Ciaccio said. To accommodate its growing number of orders, last March Ciaccio moved the company's manufacturing space from the basement of the West Main site a short distance away, to a former West Dundee fire station at 98 Oregon Ave.

Then in October, Ciaccio's sister, Debbie Strohmer, moved her antique business from its previous locations, including The Milk Pail in East Dundee, to The Cubbyhole. Her shop is dubbed Finders Keepers, and its wares are intermingled with the children's items. "Both complement each other," said Ciaceio. "We still have all the handmade puzzles and education toys and she's got the antiques." The family connection doesn't stop there. Debi, his wife, paints, decorates and personalizes the puzzles.

His mother, Marilyn, runs the store, and his three children Steve, 24, Trisha, 21, and Angie, 15 all pitch in, as well. The younger Steve, now a graduate of Southern Illinois University, has his sights set on being a firefighter. So it probably is fitting that he is working in a setting that looks both forward and back in a former fire station, where he helps hone toys for the next generation of children. Matt Baron The Manor Restaurant in East Dundee offers a comfortable, family-like ,1..... atmosphere.

Many of its customers are regulars. Having lunch here are Rose Drake, left, Carmella Fornelli and Peggy Rae, all from CarpenterSV'llle. 1 Family place warms you with all the right i I I Dining out recently spoke with George Koulis, who owns the Manor Restaurant in East Dundee with his wife, Stella. What will hungry diners find when they try the Manor? We are a nice, family restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in a casual atmosphere. What is the decor? Comfortable.

We are modern, but not modern-modern. We're an everyday kind of place. What are your specialties? We serve breakfast 24 hours a day, Koulis said. The restaurant offers such items as eggs, hash browns and sausage on the breakfast menu. Other items of interest include three kinds of homemade soup, beef ste'w, beef stroganoff, steaks and a salad bar.

What items are offered for appef izers? We offer fried mushrooms, onion rings, chicken strips, a combination platter, a cheese plate, a spinach dip and buffalo wings, among others. How long have you been open? The restaurant has been open since the 1950s, and we have owned it since 1978. We've made two or three enlargements since then. How did you get in the business? I got in the business in the late 1960s. At one point, I owned eight or nine restaurants with my brothers.

Dining out: The Manor Restaurant Address: 425 E. Main at routes 68 and 72, East Dundee. Phone: (847)426-7580 Directions: Take east to Route 31 north to Route 72. Turn right to go east. The.

restaurant will be on the left. Or, get off at Route 25 going north, and take Route 72 west (left turn). The restaurant will be on the right, just before the stoplight at Route 68. Being Greek, we have a specialty in cooking. We love to do that.

What is the medium price for a meal? Lunch will run $6 to' from $7 to $8. Do you take reservations? Not usually, although we will if we have to. Is there a wait? On Friday through Sunday, but it is usually not more than 5 minutes. We seat more than 200 people and have Turnover is usually pretty quick. What hours are you open? 5 a.m.

to 11 p.m. daily. Do you offer a senior discount? We offer a 10 percent senior discount on all items, all day, except for our breakfast specials. The Cubbyhole Address! 110 W. Main West Dundee Phone: Toll-free (800) 848-0291; or local (847) 426-2500 (fpr the wood shop) and (847) 426-0497 (forthe store).

Directions: Take 1-90 east to Route 31 north to Route 72. Turn right (east) and go downtown. The business is on the north side of the street; the second block on the west side.of the Fox River. Parking: Parking is available in a municipal lot behind the store, and you can enter the store through" the rear. Hows: 9:30 a.m.

to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. such thing as being too weH-infbrmed The Daily Herald Expanded Sunday Business Section.

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