ike many great enterprises, Lakeshore started with one person taking a chance. In this case, it was Ethelyn Kaplan, a single mother who decided to pack up her family and head west to California to open a toy store back in 1954. The move was a bit unconventional for a woman in 1950s America, but then again, entrepreneurs don’t typically follow the status quo. Initially, Mrs. Kaplan focused on selling toys to parents, but before long, local schools 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.