Local store for kids and adults welcomes all for a celebration

hid’n hollow to host grand opening on Aug. 15, 2023

hid’n

A store playfully named for its somewhat hidden location just off Neepawa’s main street, is now pretty hard to miss. And it’s owners are ready to celebrate their official grand opening with the community.

After completing its three phase store goals outlined in the Banner & Press last November – upgrading the interior, establishing stock and finishing interior and exterior murals – hid’n hollow ~ a kid store and more, located at 266 Davidson Street, is set for its official Grand Opening on Tuesday, Aug. 15 at 9:45am. The store will be open 10-6 that day to allow time for all interested to attend.

The day will include a Ten Ticket Tour of hid’n hollow, where patrons can get acquainted with the store through a series of draws, located throughout it’s rooms, that will be matched to their ticket card number, as well there will be an hourly draw of items that have been generously donated by many of the store’s vendors. For all kids 12 and under, there will be a Lollipop Pull game as well, where everyone is a winner! There will also be specials that day on select items and clearance prices on inventory inherited with the original building purchase, such as music items, Jets jerseys, picture frames and more.

“We’ve had a chance to get established in the space now and we’re ready to welcome everyone in to celebrate this new business with us,” Daryl

Critchlow,

who owns hid’n hollow with his wife Belinda, said. “Our main goal was to complete some interior and exterior upgrades, as well as stock a large, diverse inventory, before the official opening celebration. Customers will notice a significant change in the initial product lines we opened with in November, to the additions now found throughout the store.”

The building’s exterior has recently completed it’s eye-catching transformation to feature a mural of whimsical creatures playing among the forest hollow. This transformation was created via painting and repair efforts of Bannerman Painting, while the mural was envisioned by two local artists, Katy Martin and Meaghan Peters, and is supported in part by the Town of Neepawa’s Storefront Improvement Program.

Katy and Meaghan also painted the mural in the store’s foyer, depicting the hollow from the inside, earlier this year.

“We can not thank each of these individuals enough! Katy and Meaghan have created an amazingly playful and beautiful storefront façade that mimics a page right out of a fairytale storybook. We couldn’t be more excited with the end results,” said Daryl. “We’ve had a lot of positive response to opening. Customers have commented on the uniqueness of the store for Neepawa, and the variety of toys and games available for kids, or presents for young and old.”

“The store is full of fun things for all ages,” Belinda noted. “We wanted to make coming to the store a fun experience and outing for everyone. It’s been really neat seeing kids and fam- ilies stop for photos and to interact with the murals. It’s added just that much more of a whimsical feel to the store.”

Inside, the store has seen significant growth in inventory and has a much wider offering than when it opened last November. In addition to stocking toys, books and puzzles, hid’n hollow also has over 400 board and card games, art supplies, fidget and sensory toys, Squishmallows, Schleich, LEGO, Hot Wheels and Nerf, candy, trading cards (hockey,

Pokémon and fantasy), crafts, STEAM activities and Aboriginal giftware. A birthday and baby gift registry has also recently been established.

“With the mural now complete word is getting out that we are here,” noted Daryl. The Critchlows are hoping the Grand Opening will attract people of all ages to check out what their hid’n hollow has to offer. “We have completed all phases of the transformation of the store and we look forward to celebrating that with everyone!”