At the origin of the Maison Serneels, Edmond Serneels, the founder in 1959, opened his store on Avenue de la Toison d’Or in Brussels. 36 years later, Alain and Brigitte Serneels, his children, decided to modernise the premises and implanted the activities of the Maison Serneels in the prestigious site at the top of Avenue Louise, the Wiltcher’s site, adjoining the Hotel Witcher’s Steigenberger.
Ever since it was founded, the Maison Serneels has remained faithful to its philosophy: each toy is unique and remains a memory linked to a strong emotion, a spontaneous and ineffaceable feeling, a childhood memory. With respect for a certain ethics, the store rejects ephemeral trends, gadgets and over-commercialised items that are victims of fashion, as well as all replica firearms. On the contrary, Alain and Brigitte Serneels favour quality brands, natural materials and games that stimulate the imagination and creativity of children.
From a very young age, children therefore discover their first games either in the brightly coloured textiles or in the timeless wooden toys, or the soft animals of the famous Steiff brand or the most humorous ones of the Sigikid brand. When they are a little bigger, they will go into a reverie when faced with fairy tale character costumes designed by artisans in cotton or silk. The dolls aisle naturally brings happiness to little girls, as well as their mothers and grandmothers who recall with tenderness their faithful playmates. Beds, cradles, prams, cookers, tea sets, saucepans and other accessories will make your mind wander like a true housewife. The boys, their dads and granddads will instead marvel at the wonderful steam engines or old metal toy replicas, or at the metal toy soldiers, without forgetting a full range of toy cars.
Numerous exclusive creations by artisans offer a splendid alternative to industrial production: you will for example find toy boxes and puppet theatres made of wood and painted and decorated by hand.
The choice on offer to customers is the result of a constant quest for the most beautiful, the most inventive, the most original and the most well thought out toy, as much in the international professional fairs of Nuremberg, Paris, London and New York… as for small-scale artisans producing objects that meet the requirements of the establishment.
A wide choice of handcrafted music boxes, a lovely range of ornamental figures from Provence, handcrafted wooden tops and typically English croquet sets is therefore found in the Maison Serneels assortment.
A significant department for “bigger children” offers a wide range of classic parlour games such as chess, checkers and backgammon, as well as fun for all the family around a roulette or blackjack table, just like in a real casino.
A true return to childhood, proving that there is no age limit for having fun.
