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January 2010 | Vol. IX - No. 1
January 2010 | Vol. IX - No. 1
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The Acorn Store's PLAN Showroom

A Special Space Lets Kids Play


Behind The Acorn Store is another store, and another one, too ... three separate showrooms help give this little toy store a big presence in kids' imaginations. Click here to watch videos of the toys in the main showroom and costume shop. Scroll below to see some of the hottest sellers in the Acorn Store's newest addition ... a showroom devoted solely to PLAN Toys:

Retailers: Did you know you can broadcast TDmonthly Toy Videos from your website?  Manufacturers: Find out how a TDmonthly Video attracts buyers.




MSRP: $120.00
Age Range: 3 and up
Gender: Girls
Category: Dolls - Accessories



The Chalet Dollhouse With Furniture offers kids the full package in dollhouse play. It comes in two units that can be manipulated to form numerous dollhouse layouts. It also comes with furniture, so that nothing's missing when dolls come to visit. The Chalet Dollhouse includes three stories, slanting chalet roof and creative stairs, as well as an innovative floor plan. It is 32" x 24" x 14", is made from recycled rubber wood, is coated with a non-toxic finish, and all colors are made from vegetable dye.
— When asked about best-selling play houses and furniture, Teri Soelter, owner of Teri's Toybox in Edmonds, Wash., said "Plan Toys. People will buy the furniture by itself and the dollhouses later."
— Four of 62 retailers TDmonthly spoke with in spring 2007 said Plan Toys makes some of the most popular furniture and play houses in their stores. They sell about three Plan Toys dollhouses per month. Seven percent of 56 retailers surveyed in January 2009 said doll houses and accessories are among their top sellers.
— “These products are so beautiful,” Teneen Dobbs, owner of Kits & Kaboodle in Carmel, Ind. told TDmonthly. “They display well. People just love wooden items.”
ToyDirectory Product ID#: 11464      (added 2/19/2007)
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MSRP: $199.00
Age Range: 0 and up
Gender: Boys And Girls
Category: Pretend Play



This stove unit is made of sustainably harvested rubber wood and finished with child-safe, non-toxic, vegetable-based dyes for peace of mind and vibrant color. Storage on top, a range in the middle, and an opening oven underneath give children a wide array of play patterns to roleplay mom and dad cooking dinner, aspiring chef, or any other stories they might come up with. Kitchen play also offers opportunities to educate about safety in the real kitchen, putting things away when you're done with them, healthy diet, and responsibilities in the house. 
— “They're high quality and green,” Bill Rayment, owner of Toy Crossing in Harbor Beach, Mich., said of Plan Toys when he named them as one of his top-selling brands during a May 2009 survey of best-selling play house and furniture items.
ToyDirectory Product ID#: 24211      (added 6/25/2009)
.




Children can rustle up a good breakfast with this pretend toaster. It features two slices of wooden bread and a real pop-up action when the toast is "ready." It's made of natural, chemical free recycled rubberwood and finished with non-toxic water based dye.
ToyDirectory Product ID#: 26349      (added 12/10/2009)
.


MSRP: $29.99
Gender: Boys And Girls
Category: Wooden Toys
Pretend Play



The knobs click and the turntable turns. Kids can feel like they're cooking up a feast in this wooden replica. It's made of natural, chemical free recycled rubberwood and finished with non-toxic water based dye.
ToyDirectory Product ID#: 26350      (added 12/10/2009)
.


MSRP: $220.00
Age Range: 3 to 6
Gender: Boys And Girls
Category: Furniture & Decor



This table and chair set is made of solid rubberwood, from trees that no longer produce latex.
ToyDirectory Product ID#: 26353      (added 12/10/2009)
.


MSRP: $95.00
Gender: Boys And Girls
Category: Wooden Toys
Dolls - Accessories



This two-story gambrel-roofed barn features a removable roof and open sides for easy access into the interior and hayloft access. It includes removable ladder, a grain sack, two stacks of hay, four  adjustable fences and a tool set. The hay can be hoisted into the barn by a pulley and pallet at front gable.
ToyDirectory Product ID#: 26352      (added 12/10/2009)
.


Age Range: 3 and up
SKU or Item #: 71100
Gender: Boys And Girls
Category: Play Houses
Dolls - Accessories



This 1:12 scale wooden dollhouse includes four rooms and a balcony, and comes with tools for assembly. It measures 24.8" L x 14.2" D x 23"H.
— “We cycle out what we carry year to year — right now we have a Plan dollhouse,” Tina Schwindt of Fairhaven Toy Garden in Bellingham, Wash., said when asked in June 2008 about top-selling furniture and playhouses.
— “Plan Toys — not selling a lot right now, given the time of year; generally, I’ll sell six rooms a month. … As we get into fall, [we] will expand [the line] a lot more; it’s a line we love and their dollhouses are great,” Jerome Crawford, owner of Crawdaddy’s Toys in Lafayette, Calif., told TDmonthly.
— When asked about best-selling furniture and playhouse items, three of 62 retailers told TDmonthly that they carry dollhouses by Plan Toys. There was some concern, though, about slow sales at the time of the interviews, in early summer 2008.
ToyDirectory Product ID#: 19774      (added 7/10/2008)
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Read what more than 400 retailers have told TDmonthly about toys since 2005 in Toy-Store Owners Talk to TDmonthly.

Alison MarekWriter's Bio: ALISON MAREK is a writer/artist/filmmaker whose work has been published by Fairchild Publications and DC Comics (Piranha Press), among others. Her short films have played in festivals around the world and have been broadcast on Showtime and other cable networks. Her short romantic comedy, "The Three-Body Solution,"  was sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and won a Director's Award at the Hearts & Minds Film Festival in 2010.  Alison has been documenting the specialty toy industry since 2005 with a series of articles and videos for TDmonthly Magazine.  Read more articles by this author


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