Games, Playthings and Plush

casionally – items such as their giant giraffe which are a considerably higher price point. People buy those as décor pieces for a nursery or child’s room. Displaywise, they also can be quite eye-catching inside the 8,000-square-foot store and cause toys to stand out amid the merchandise mix. “I’ll place a jumbo plush item atop a toy display and people really notice.”

The gift shop occupies 2,000 square feet of the overall pharmacy space and Upchurch firmly believes in having toy demos on the floor. “I think anytime you can put a toy on display so people can touch, feel, and play with it, people are encouraged to buy it.” As an example, she references an adorable toy grocery cart she has taken out of the box and how often kids want to push it around the store. “Mom and/or grandma see how well the child is playing with it and how much they enjoy it and before you know it, they buy it.” Upchurch is drawing the line at taking a toy piano out of the box for demo purposes however, as she knows she doesn’t want to listen to it all day long!

Dan’s Ace Hardware in Idaho Falls, Idaho, tends to feature toys in the period leading up to Christmas. Wind up die-cast metal cars have been popular in

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