Like many people, when I first heard the concept behind Twitter, my first thoughts were, “Who cares what anyone is doing every moment of every day?” I certainly didn’t want to know what my friends had for breakfast, or which airport they were in or what outfit their cat was wearing. I have a hard enough time keeping up with my tasks at hand, much less sharing with the world what I am doing every moment. But, I joined Twitter because, you know, it’s the hot thing. And us retailers …

It happens very often. A customer (often an aunt or uncle) comes in and asks for an “educational toy for a 2-year-old.” My staff prefers it’s not me they ask, because they know this is one of my “buttons.” Depending on the length of my fuse, I may or may not spare them the lecture on why there is no such animal as an “educational” toy for a 2-year-old. But who wants a lecture? So I show them something that has the alphabet printed on it, or involves numbers …

I have been a member of ASTRA (American Specialty Toy Retailing Association) for six years now. There are many benefits of membership, as any convert will tell you. The one benefit that has saved my reputation time and time again is ASTRATRAXX. ASTRATRAXX is a program through ASTRA that enables toy stores to buy and sell products from each other, usually at cost plus shipping to fill those nagging customer requests. The manufacturer may be out of what you need, or you aren’t ready to place a full order, or …

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 …

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.

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 …