I first heard mutterings about the attempts to enact legislation for toy safety back in the first part of 2007. I was in the know so early because Oregon was sandwiched between California and Washington. California was enacting legislation that would leave children’s merchandiser’s at constant risk of litigation for non-compliance with heavy handed safety regulations. Washington was facing legislation with similar types of materials regulations, but the means of enforcement was proposed to come from government agencies, not the litigious nature of John Q Public. These bills would …

Who knew? People give GIFTS to their children on Easter. Not little stuffed bunny gifts. Real gifts.
Easter is a huge holiday in my toy store. The first year it took me by surprise. I’m afraid I had always been of the stuffed bunny variety where Easter gifts were concerned. Well, that’s not entirely true. There have oft been real bunnies and chicks involved, but never real gifts.
Since that first year I have become much more savvy about Easter, what people do and don’t give, how they do and …

Are you a member of your Chamber of Commerce? I’m not. As we try to build a “Shop Local” movement in our town, I miss the CoC, or at least my fantasy version of the CoC.
When I was in Small Business 101 ( I actually did take that class before I started), I was told the CoC membership was essential. The networking, the connections, the opportunities. None of it helped me during my years of membership. It took me a long time to figure out that the CoC …

Without a doubt, our No. 1 selling item at YoYo Joe’s in 2009 has been yo-yos. And, it’s not even close.
I’ve been selling yo-yos for years, both back at my family’s retail store and now at my own. People always ask me, “How’s the yo-yo business?” and I answer “Oh, it has its ups and downs” (insert groan here). As of right now, we’re definitely in an ‘up’ period — what could be seen as the beginnings of the next big boom.
Yo-yo selling has, traditionally, been a cyclical toy. Sales …

We’re sweating the little stuff. Little stuff is huge.
I read recently that consumers are cutting back from buying 25 useless things to buying five quality things. Our customers (at least of the grade-school variety) are buying 25 really small things.

Green is in.
We thought this was coming last year, but maybe everyone was waiting for the election before they jumped on the bandwagon.
Now our “green toys” seem to be following the career path of Al Gore, from silly hippy stuff to genuine “cool.”

It’s Spring, and everyone should be bursting with happy energy. Instead, customers whisper in a tone like you might have a terminal illness, “How’s business?”
It’s the latest trend … customer concern. First, it was once a day; now, it can be three or four times. “Are you doing OK?”
Everyone is suddenly noticing that shops are closing. Shops they liked, shops they hated, shops they had never noticed until the brown paper went up in the windows. It’s not an easy trend to grasp.

I see 2009 as a year of tremendous change and opportunity for specialty toy stores and manufacturers. Why? The toy safety scare and the CPSIA, as well as the economy.
The trends were already apparent at Toy Fair:
– companies are making and stores are purchasing toys at lower price points
– more stress is being put on toy safety than ever before
– there will be a ‘weeding-out’ process among toy retailers

Klutz books have always been a favorite with my family, so it is natural that I sell a lot of them in my store. I love the way Klutz can shape a child’s life. I carry a large selection of arts and crafts activity kits, but most of them keep a child active for an afternoon.
The Klutz books get children started on activities that can keep them active for a lifetime. This is not an exaggeration. The knitting book, crochet book, origami, friendship bracelets, and hemp bracelets …