Melissa & Doug Wooden Grocery Store and Lemonade Stand - Reversible Awning, 9 Bins, Chalkboards

I bought this for my youngest daughter's third birthday. I also bought some wooden foods (some of which are the cuttable velcro kind) and a play cash register/calculator, as well as the Melissa and Doug shopping cart. As part of a themed gift this was a big hit. Having said all that, this is a very well made toy in and of itself. I was impressed with how solid and sturdy it is. It was easy to assemble and came with several shelves and bins and a two-sided canopy that says "grocery store" on one side and "lemonade stand" on the other. It's easy enough for a five year old to switch the sign around. There are even small chalkboards to hang on the plastic bins so kids can label and price their items. There are lots of opportunities for pretend play and even some educational value, with adding up of prices and whatnot. As soon as my daughter opened this present, my three kids immediately took it outside and had a vegetable sale from our garden. They made over $20! I didn't even really expect them to use it that way, but they had a blast. It drew the attention of several neighbors, all of whom loved the stand and pronounced it "the coolest birthday present". I guess that says it all.

Fun set that had provided hours of fun for five and six year old. We purchased fruits and veggies to go with it as well as lemonade items. Set up with cash register, baggies, and various other items to make it a full store. Was surprised the construction is not flimsy particle board. It is very sturdy and very heavy with solid wood pieces and slats. The chalkboard pieces are small but appropriate for little hands tho writing must be small. It's time consuming to put together and I suggest reading through entirely as you set aside each part with the appropriate bolts, screws, etc. some pieces are harder to get together than others we found such as the side shelves. Read directions carefully so not to put it opposite. As the mom I put together with six year old helping and it took us four hours on and off with breaks and just goofing off. So I'm guessing a total of two hours total for work as we had a difficult time with the sides and holding the heavy piece steady as pieces were attached. It is worth the effort as the quality is far superior to many products and the quality of this Melissa and Doig product is indeed excellent.

What is required are some Melissa and Doug's fruits and vegetables to fill the bins and child(ren) will play on and on and on! This allows children to be creative and use their imagination instead of being entertained by a video. The stand is dual purpose.... it can be a vegetable stall or a lemonade stand. You can easily transpose the banner to either the grocery store or the lemonade stand. Ours is stocked with many fruits and vegetables and lots of lemons for lemonade. I added a Rubbermaid plastic pitcher for the "lemonade" to be made in! As a result, I have consumed endless glasses of lemonade! As with most Melissa & Doug toys this stand evokes two adjectives... imagination and quality. An added plus is that the stand is very simple to put together. The instructions are very explicit and the holes all line up perfectly! This is one toy that will continue to be used day after day, week after week and year after year. It will grow with your child, withstand their punishment and still be viable. I highly recommend this purchase!

My son recieved this grocery stand for his second birthday. This was SO easy to put together on my own and very quickly (45 mins to an 1hour). The instructions was really easy to read and to follow the step by step illustrations as well. Comes with screws and nuts and a simple hex key for a tool. I never needed a screw driver, etc. I will be surprised if anyone took longer and had a hard time to assemble. Well, it was easy for me and I normally leave to my husband to assemble projects. Anyway, it was bigger than I expected, sturdy, and better quailty which is a great thing! The price is spot on!! Great unisex gift to any young kid(s) under 8 years old. Also a nice toy for learning, and pretend play.

I bought this despite a few negative reviews because I've always known Melissa and Doug to have quality products... I will say that they make great products if you don't need to assemble them. That being said, this stand was a pain to assemble. The directions are simple, but the holes were drilled too deep so you had to randomly hold the nut in the right place to line it up with the hole. What should've taken me around 10 minutes took an hour and a lot of cursing. I don't find furniture difficult to assemble and consider myself a pro for certain Swedish furniture with the worst instructions ever, so I'm fairly certain it's not me. One of the side shelves split while I was screwing it on... not really sure how it happened and it's a HUGE split running the length of the shelf. I'm disappointed but the rest of the stand looks great and seems sturdy. I got this on sale and it's well worth the $59, but I wouldn't pay more than that until M&D work on their quality control for this product Regardless of any negatives, my kids immediately loved it and it perfectly fit all of their play food.

Imagine yourself on the floor hot with rage over the most idiotic and overly inefficient set up you’ve ever encountered in a toy. It’s mind boggling how terrible this is designed - building it should take 5 minutes but requires you to line up nuts and screws in holes that are poorly cut and misaligned. Seemingly the simplest of task, instead takes every ounce of emotional regulation to stop you from throwing it clear across the room.

I bought this as a gift for practice. My initial intention was to use the lemonade stand as a sample demonstration and practice for the kids lemonade stand. It was not to difficult to assemble only took about 30 min. It took this long because I wasn’t to sure of what I was doing but the instructions were great guidance. The part I was having a little difficulty was one the parts that were specifically top and bottom facing. The stand is very sturdy and I could tell from the way we needed to assemble it. We ended up using it as the real lemonade stand and everyone loves it.

I bought this toy for my 2 y/o daughter and 3 1/2 year old son. They both have been asking to play supermarket and enjoy using it. I was debating between this toy and a Little Tikes market. The reason I decided on the Melissa and Doug toy was because it seemed bigger and therefore would be able to hold the abundance of play food that the kids already have. The Melissa and Doug has nine bins versus little tike's six. The Melissa and Doug did not come, however, with the doors, food, the ice cream cones, or a cash register, they might enjoy playing with. So I had to buy the cash register and Melissa and Doug Ice cream set. I am glad I did because my son immediately asked for "ice cream" remembering it from the picture of the little Tikes Market that I showed him. He did not miss or notice the doors. It also has these tabs that hold little chalkboards the kids can practice writing on. The only problems with the tabs are that they are not durable. One broke the first day, and it was partly my fault because I was not looking and my 2 year old decided to climb the toy. I had to explain to her that this is not what it was for. Melissa and Doug were very kind enough to, rather quickly, send me a replacement bin, free of charge. That was a big plus for me and one of the reasons I rated the product with five stars. Another issue for parents with younger children, and from what I noticed with one reviewer who complained that the toy was "too advanced", is that this is not a toy that you just hand over to young children and expect them to play with "correctly". You have to be there and explore the toy with them. Arrange the food by color and types, practice writing on the chalkboards, talk about purchasing and how things cost money, etc. It can be a very fun and educational toy for even a 2 y/o. We talk about the different types of food one would find in a supermarket. We also have carts and put the food in the cart as we are shopping and then in a bag to "take home" to their play kitchen to cook. So don't be intimidated by expecting your kids to immediately go shopping on their own. Melissa and Doug's website also has ideas of how to use this toy. Also one person complained of not being able to write their own name on the sign. That problem can easily be solved by taking some black contact paper, writing whatever you want with chalk, and placing it on top of the sign. The toy was not difficult to put together. I put it together, while 6 month's pregnant, by myself, with my two toddlers unhelping me, in about 40 minutes. No major tools are needed, maybe a flat screwdriver to hold and turn the little metal dowel nuts in place. It comes with an Allen wrench. Basically if you can put together Ikea furniture, you can put this together. The instructions are good and straightforward. This is a great toy for Kwanzaa, Christmas, Chanukah, Winter Solstice, Birthdays or whatever you wish to celebrate.