Games, Playthings and Plush

Simple Pleasures (From page 130)

Wild Republic monkey or a Melissa & Doug Sloth from the ceiling is always fun. A giant elephant or unicorn in the window is a great attention grabber,” she said.

Merchandising toys is the fun part. Many retailers have had to scale back their hands-on displays due to COVID concerns and find other ways to highlight products. “Things need to change often. Sometimes a product is not selling because it’s in the wrong spot. Move things around, keep them fresh. Some of our best customers come here regularly—we’ll move things around to keep it interesting. We do our best to keep shelves full—that’s been a challenge with the ongoing shipping issues,” Friedland said.

Pickering utilizes fun display pieces for many of their items. “We’ll use interesting containers. Lots of wicker baskets, apple baskets, crates. Lots of clean lines. Each section will have a bit of a display sitting before it—science in the outer aisle, art. Games are very boxed and a bit less entertaining. We don’t currently have ‘hands-on’ things out. We have some things behind the counter so if a child wants to see an item, a staff member can bring it out and the adult

“They’re [Mary Meyer] designed for the younger set. The eyes are not buttons, they’re sewn in. They’re mainly for the under-2-year-olds. For the older kids, Ganz is popular. For the longest time, unicorns were big, then it was narwhals for awhile. Some plush was pretty unusual. Now customers like little chickens, and things like avocados. We also sell puppets by Folkmanis. It doesn’t matter what type of creature it is with puppets.” with the child can look at it,” she said.

Like other businesses, independent toy stores have weathered their share of challenges. Most recently, the double impact of short- and long-term COVID-related closures and supply chain issues have put them to the test. Retailers have had to adapt and overcome, largely through forecasting and being proactive. “One of the biggest challenges we face is trying to figure out ways to consistently stay relevant and above the competition and continue to serve a specific purpose,” said Friedland. “For us, we have a staff who are all trained in early childhood development. It’s more important for us to get the right toy into a child’s hands, not necessarily the most popular. We try to keep current themes in our store while staying timeless. We don’t want to have things in our store just because it’s a big name. We have to find the right mix of what’s popular and what’s going to last.” Brooks said she faces many of the same challenges as other toy retailers, but one highlight is getting the opportunity to build relationships with friends and neighbors is one of the greatest highlights of having an independent toy store.

“Historically our biggest challenge is keeping people shopping local and on Main streets instead of on the internet, but this year we have a whole new set of challenges with supply chain issues. Trying to ensure our pricing is MSRP or below is important to gain the trust of our local community …trying to get the items they are specifically interested in and keep the shelves full with fresh and new items helps keep people interested and coming downtown to check things out.”

Masterson named the current supply chain issues as a recent challenge. He said another is “not being able to buy in large volumes that larger places can. And we constantly get customers who would rather buy online. We try to be as much of a neighborhood-friendly store as we possibly can. We emphasize we’re local, do a lot of personal service. We do a lot of ordering for people—we hope that translates into something people will need somewhere down the line.”

Pickering worked at Kazoodles for eight years and took over the reins as owner in January 2020. The last year and a half has been a crash course in retail management and business ownership. “I had to learn a lot of hard lessons really fast,” Pickering said. “The lessons have had to come really quickly, and COVID sped up my need for that. The most difficult thing has been planning and staying on top of the supply chain issues. I started ordering for Christmas in April. As soon as my vendors and people I trust said, ‘Here’s what you should do’, I did it. I am in good shape for the holidays—some things haven’t come in and I might have to make some decisions as to whether I keep them or cut them, and I might sell out of things. There’s been a lot of paying closer attention to the supply chain than I did before.” She also said social media has become critical for small retailers. “It has changed so much recently. It’s really become video-based. Of course you still have to post regularly, but you cannot just put up a graphic and some text and get much out of it anymore. I think it has to do with how you’re set up with Google, which is such a huge part of this, I don’t fully understand. ❖