R.I.P Toy Stores
So I work in specialty retail selling, servicing, and chemically maintaining pools/hot tubs. I’ve always worked in specialty retail for the most part. I find it much more rewarding, and challenging in building trust with people. I’m a pretty big retail guru in all. I thoroughly enjoy the interaction process with how people make buying decisions. It’s easy for me to get off topic here so I’ll get right to the point. We can go and dissect retail in another blog later on.
We are one week out from Christmas, one of my favorite holidays. See I used to work at a local toy store. This toy store was HUGE. I mean that literally. It was located in a local plaza along with some other popular stores. The plaza was shaped like half of a square. At that time there were four “big draws” , or large stores in that plaza amongst smaller businesses as well. There was P & C Foods, Fashion Bug, JC Penny, and then the big Toy Works toy store. This place nearly took up one whole side of the plaza all on its own. It was amazing, and I miss it. I started there as a seasonal Christmas employee back in December of 2002. My good friend Andrew had worked there and encouraged me to apply. It was a truly awesome experience. Usually the seasonal employees would be laid off soon after the new year as the job was only temporary for them. A lucky select chosen few would be given an opportunity to stay and join the team part-time at first, and opportunities to achieve full-time thereafter when it presented itself. I like to think it was my exceptional work ethic alone that landed me a permanent job there but I think I might have had Andrew to thank for that one. Anyways so it began, Christmas season was over and I was a full-blown part-time KB Toy Works employee. It was time to see how this place functioned outside of the chaotic holiday season as a retail toy giant here in our small Finger Lakes community. I must say that what I experienced in those post holiday seasons still has a major impact on me today. Kids getting excited during Christmas, well that’s just a given. Parents turning into tunnel visioned lunatics searching for the hottest toy each season, well that’s just a given too. It was what I witnessed in the off-season that etched itself into my memory. I can remember one particular slow weekday evening just before spring. I was leaning against the video counter pondering the after work plans of mass alcohol consumption as I had turned twenty-one that year. I noticed a father and what had to be maybe an eight or nine-year old son headed my way down the main aisle in front of the counter. They strolled along, the son pointing at various action figures, legos, and rc cars smiling and clearly excited to be here. I mean come on, I know I keep saying this but the place was f’ing huge. I remember being a kid going in there and I felt like I was in heaven. Heaven at that age was toys, tons of them everywhere, and this was the place. So they strolled along, son pointing, dad smiling as junior led the way around the store. I left my post and decided to follow a little while before offering my help in navigating this metropolis of toys. I admired the innocence of the whole situation unfolding. I soon approached, greeting them and asking if they were looking for anything special. The little boy responded swiftly with ” I cleaned my room all by myself today and my dad said I can buy a wolverine action figure!” (this sounded much cuter coming from him and not me typing it). First neat detail, he said he was going to buy it. It’s neat because kids do that, I knew his dad was going to purchase it but in the kids head he was leading the show. Neat detail #2, his dad was rewarding him for a job well done. I love thinking about this part. Now that I am growing older I can appreciate how precious time is. This father took the time to honor their arrangement once his son completed the task. That’s great, kudos to that dad. There are several more details that struck a chord with me but you get the point. Onward to aisle 4 (action figures), let’s get this kid a wolverine figurine. I stood and watched as he ravaged my neatly organized X-men figure section. His excitement peaked as soon as he found the Marvel Legends Wolverine hiding in the back of the bunch. He turned to his father to show him, his father smiled back and asked if that was the one he wanted. I escorted them up to the video counter to check them out. Both father and son left The Toy Works happy that day.
There are so many memories I look back at like the father and son action figure day. Kids being rewarded for high scoring report cards, grandmas spoiling grandchildren on birthdays, and kids spending hard earned “chore” money on the latest toy desired. Im not against “big box” discount chains, but I am a little turned off by the diluted shopping experience. Theres something to be said for a retail store dedicated to providing happiness for children. The days of KB, FAO Schwarz, Toys R Us, and many of the other special toys stores I fear have fallen victim to discount chains. I ventured into the local Wal-Mart this past week to find my little sister a toy and was disheartened by the lack of organization. Even the outdoor seasonal section of the store was packed with toys, but only a month from now it will be reassigned a new theme to pack the shelves with. We all know full well that walking into a store means buying something and spending money, and that the merchant is there to sell us something. It’s when the “selling us something” seems to take full priority with a merchant that some what taints my shopping experience. Both as a shopper and eventually an employee of Toy Works it was always a welcoming feeling when a clerk offered me help, and backed that help with knowledge of what I was looking for. Nowadays I walk into toy departments and am mostly offered help from an adjacent “sports” or “auto supplies” department employee with no more interest in toys than they are learning the ancient latin language. It’s just sad is all. At least offer to make me breakfast the morning after if you know what I mean.
I just wanted to dedicate a blog post to these memorable companies. The nostalgia always pours in during christmas, thinking about the toys I had when I was a kid. The times when my parents or grandmother used to take me down to the local toy store are cherished. Maybe someday they will return for future generations to experience. My hat goes off to the visionaries of yesterday that merged success with creating fun atmospheres for children’s treasures, R.I.P toy stores.
