Lakeshore Learning Materials is a chain of educational supply stores. The company is one of the largest retail and online suppliers of educational materials to teachers with more than 60 stores in 29 states. The company is based in

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

and employs more than 2000 people. Lakeshore Learning Materials was founded in 1954 by Ethelyn Kaplan. She opened a toy store on Lakeshore Avenue in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, which inspired the name of the company. The store was modestly successful but after Kaplan noticed that one teacher purchased five puzzles she decided to sell the store and start a new company in San Leandro, California that focused solely on educational products. Her sons Charles and Michael joined the company in 1967 and 1971 and Ethelyn retired four years later. Her grandson Bo Kaplan became CEO in 2009. In 2023, Bo Kaplan transitioned to Executive Chairman and Charles Best became CEO. "Our niche is institutions", former CEO Charlie Kaplan told the ''Los Angeles Times'' in 1995. "When we get parents, we're delighted, but we are set up for schools". Around 70% of the company's products are private label and developed in-house. In 1994, the company partnered with public television station

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOCE-TV ...

to open the

Store of Knowledge Store of Knowledge Inc. (SOK) was an American retail chain selling educational items and children's toys. Owned and operated by a company of the same name based in Cerritos, California, SOK was in business between 1994 and 2001. At its closure, i ...

, a retail shop selling educational toys and products at the

Glendale Galleria The Glendale Galleria is a large three-story regional shopping center and office complex located in downtown Glendale, California, United States. Opened in 1976 with 1.6 million square feet of retail space, it is the fourth largest mall in Los An ...

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*{{official, https://www.lakeshorelearning.com American companies established in 1954 Retail companies established in 1954 Toy retailers of the United States Education companies established in 1954