For 20 years, iconic Austin toy shop Monkey See, Monkey Do! brought a nostalgic kind of funky fun to South Congress Avenue.

In April, owner Brandon Hodges announced the shop’s relocation and, over four days, packed up the shop’s eclectic inventory of novelties and collectibles and moved it to a new home on Menchaca Road.

Monkey See, Monkey Do! reopened at 2810 Menchaca Road on May 2. Hodges hopes the move will see the return of more locally based customers and help the shop return to its “DIY funky vibe” roots.

How it started

Monkey See, Monkey Do! opened at 1712 South Congress Ave., Austin, on March 3, 2005. Hodges had been the manager of Lone Star Illusions, another gift shop on South Congress Avenue, until it closed in 2004.

He said he worked with the landlords to open a similar shop.“I worked all night to put a proposal together,” Hodges said. “I believe that was a Thursday night. I turned it in on Friday, and on Monday, I signed a lease. I mean, it was that fast... Things don't happen like that on South Congress anymore. Back then, that's how it happened.”

The shop had a “no intellectual property” rule and sold figures, vintage toys and imported gifts like Japanese anime figures from warehouse sales and small manufacturers.

Throughout the years, those manufacturers went away, and Monkey See, Monkey Do! adapted to the changing demographic along South Congress, now carrying items from brands like Marvel, Star Wars, Hello Kitty and Sonny Angel.“We still try to tug hard on the nostalgic heart threads [with] Lite Brites and Hungry, Hungry Hippos,” Hodges said. “We lean really hard into the late 70s and early 80s, my own childhood sense of nostalgia, but also, we get into the 90s and more modern stuff as well.”

Hodges later opened Big Top Candy Shop in 2007, which is not relocating.

How it’s going

With the Monkey See, Monkey Do! move, Hodges said they are hitting the reset button on the direction in which the shop is going. They've made adjustments at each shift of the South Congress area, which Hodges saw begin with the rise of short-term rentals like AirBnb in the neighborhoods.

"When you don't have families in those homes, and you have people renting them to travel from out of town, you start to see a demographic shift in your customer base," he said.Monkey See, Monkey Do! could stay on South Congress if they wanted, but ultimately, accessibility and customers' unwillingness to pay to park prompted the voluntary relocation. His South Congress landlord helped him find the new location.

"It was hard for us to dodge the, you know, pushed out narrative because that's the assumption, Hodges said. "No, it just turns out to be the right move sometimes."

Some context

Hodges, who is also the South Congress Merchants Association president, backed the Austin Transportation Department's decision to implement paid parking in 2023. The plan added parking meters and freed up nearly 2000 spaces adjacent to South Congress Avenue.It solved a long-time disagreement over residential parking permits between South Congress employees and neighboring residents, but the public perception of the area's messy parking was never fixed.

"We went all right, here we go, we'll give it a few months to settle in, and we're a year and a half in, and we haven't seen that perception change," Hodges said. "We decided we need our customers to be able to access us. More importantly, we need them to have the perception they can access us."

Staying local

Hodges said he is happy to be staying in South Austin and moving near other long-standing local spots like Half Price Books, Matt's El Rancho, Thundercloud Subs and Kerbey Lane Cafe.

The new Monkey See, Monkey Do! space offers free parking and more room to browse quirky knick-knacks, figurines, gifts, toys, cards and more. Hodges also plans to host events like toy swaps and vintage toy markets.

• 2810 Menchaca Road, Austin
• Facebook: Monkey See Monkey Do!