Lakeshore Learning Materials

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Lakeshore began as a single toy store in the 1950s…and we haven’t stopped growing since! Today Lakeshore is a multimillion-dollar company with a growing network of retail stores and a successful mail-order business that serves teachers, parents and children all over the globe. Lakeshore offers a wide variety of top-quality educational products, from furniture and art materials to puzzles, hands-on learning kits…even products that focus on multiculturalism and special needs.Like many great enterprises, Lakeshore started with one person taking a chance. That’s what happened in 1954 when Ethelyn Kaplan, an Omaha homemaker, moved to California and started her own business. Although she focused on selling educational toys to parents, local schools soon started calling her for art materials and other classroom supplies. Mrs. Kaplan listened to her customers. Sensing an untapped market, she sold the store and started Lakeshore Learning Materials, a mail-order school-supply company.Lakeshore grew rapidly, and in 1967, Mrs. Kaplan’s eldest son, Charles Kaplan, joined the business. As a salesperson, Charles expanded operations in Southern California, and in just a few years, regional sales increased to $1 million annually. Michael Kaplan, Mrs. Kaplan’s second son, joined the company in 1971 and moved Lakeshore’s headquarters from Oakland to Carson. When Mrs. Kaplan retired in 1976, Michael assumed the duties of President/CEO, while Charles became the Vice President in charge of merchandise and buying—positions they still hold today.

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