Fun Distractions for the Times

Game and Puzzle Best-Sellers at Toy Stores

By June Allan Corrigan

During these pandemic times, when many people have been more or less confined to their homes, there has been a question of how to fill the hours. What to do when typical leisure activities like travel, concerts and sporting events, indeed gatherings of any kind are denied? Games and puzzles have been the solution for overwhelming numbers, as the following toy stores will attest. The three retailers interviewed for this article have experienced a huge surge in business, and in some instances, have struggled to keep up with demand. For this article, they took some time to tell their tales.

Jigsaw puzzle sales have been off the charts at William’s Fun Smart Toys in Macon, Ga. “I’ve sold more puzzles in the last 12 months than I have really in the last 15 years in business, to be honest with you,” said Owner Florence Allen . She indicated that right now the best-selling line in her 1,500-square-foot store is New York Puzzle Company. “Just about anything I bring in from them sells really well.” This includes selections from the company’s New Yorker magazine cover series, as well as National Geographic and Harry Potter puzzles. It helps that they’re made in the U.S.A. “I’m a small store in middle Georgia so that’s a selling point to a lot of people.”

William’s Fun Smart Toys also carries puzzles by SunsOut, Inc. – another Made-in-the-U.S.A. company. SunsOut’s realistic and painting imagery, not to mention 500-1000 puzzle piece count tends to appeal to older adults, 65-plus. “Most kids aren’t doing 1,000-piece puzzles. Older children like 200-to-500-piece puzzles.” Recently, Allen introduced selections from Hart Puzzles – also U.S. made – although she hasn’t had them in stock long enough to determine how they will fare. She suspects they will be popular with adults since most Hart Puzzles are 1,000 pieces. In any case, Allen just wants to be prepared in the event of another lock-down when she couldn’t keep selections of this particular pastime coming in fast enough. “Good puzzles are hard to find!”

The game scene at William’s Fun Smart Toys has also been very strong although there hasn’t been any one game that has blown away all competition. “For kids and adults age eight and up, almost any game I have in that range has done really well,” Allen said. She has noticed the types of games customers seek out has varied as the pandemic wears on. “The single player strategy kinds of games – those did pretty well at the beginning of the pandemic but for Christmas, people were looking for family games that took two-to-