Noodle Kidoodle shoots for toy buyer, kit and kaboodle. (Noodle Kidoodle Inc. to open Southwestern stores)(Company Profile)

PLANO - An "edutainment" toy chain is making a play for the pint-sized market with plans to open its first Southwestern stores in the Metroplex.

Noodle Kidoodle Inc. (Nasdaq: NKID) plans to open two $600,000 Noodle Kidoodle stores in Plano and Dallas by the spring, said Kenneth Betuker, chief financial officer of the Farmingdale, N.Y.-based chain.

The 13,000-square-foot Plano store and 8,000-square-foot North Dallas store will be the first of up to five toy shops in the market, he said. From there, Noodle Kidoodle hopes to expand into other Texas hot spots like Austin, Houston and San Antonio.

"Dallas is a phenomenal market," Betuker said. "There's a fairly high concentration of well-educated, affluent …