Games, Playthings and Plush

Toy Best-Sellers (From page 161)

keep those in stock, noted Heather Palmer , community outreach director, who oversees the museum’s retail. Another best-seller is an item called a “dino grabber,” with a squeezable dinosaur’s head at the handle. “It’s the first thing that kids go to in the store,” Palmer observed.

Not all the best sellers have been so predictable. The store’s top game lately is a chess learning kit, inspired by Palmer’s nowgrown children and the popularity of the chess club at local schools. The museum has even held family game nights that have driven sales of the chess toys.

One secret to successful children’s retail is anticipating demand. “We don’t just get the Massachusetts school vacation week; we have visitors from across New England and New York,” Palmer recalled. “The whole month of April was busy, because those other states are coming to visit us.”

When choosing new items, Palmer looks for quality products that will hold up to sustained play. “We want something that kids will have for a while and get to be creative with, and have an educational artistic component,” she noted. ❖