Retirement doesn’t always mean leaving the workforce completely. According to an AARP survey from the winter of 2025, 7% of respondents said they were “unretiring,” and the majority said this was due to financial need. Others went back to work due to boredom or as a way to help others.Irene Kesselman falls into the latter two categories. She sold her toy store, Ali Cat Toys in Carrboro, North Carolina, back in 2024, and used that as an opportunity to retire. But now, she’s helping her daughter-in-law start a new toy store in Belmont, North Carolina, which they hope to open in either late August or early September.“We are staying up till all hours of the night to make this process happen,” Kesselman said. “So we're a little exhausted, we're a little stressed, but it is in fact coming together.”To hear more about Kesselman’s return to the toy business, use the media player above.
Leaving retirement for a new family business
“My daughter-in-law had wanted to pursue a new opportunity,” said Irene Kesselman, who sold her previous toy store, Ali Cat Toys, in 2024. “We started talking, and she asked if I would mentor her, and I agreed to do so.”
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