As holiday shopping season begins, small toy stores hope you shop local
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The holiday season is pretty much here, and that means shops will soon be busy. While you're out looking for gifts for the kids in your life, local toy store owners are hoping you'll shop small.
Retailers across the country are celebrating Neighborhood Toy Store Month.
Sue Warfield, president of the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association, said it evolved from Neighborhood Toy Store Day, which was once the second Saturday of November.
"It was to draw attention to these local independently-owned toy stores, that really are so much more personalized for shopping," Warfield said. "Our neighborhood toy stores said, 'You know, one day is not enough. We have so much to offer. It just doesn't make sense to have one day.' So we expanded it to Neighborhood Toy Store Month; so they have a whole month to really focus on what they do best, which is the personalized aspect of their store."
Warfield said neighborhood toy store owners get to know their customers on a personal level.
"You don't get a personal touch in most other stores that are larger. So we want to focus on that, and let people know this is the place to go for your holiday shopping to get exactly what you need for the person that you're most concerned about buying for," she said.
This year, Neighborhood Toy Store Month focuses on four themes each week of November:
- STEM Activities from Nov. 1-6
- Art Activities from Nov. 7-13
- Family Game Nights from Nov. 14-20
- Teaching With Toys (also dubbed Make Way For Play) from Nov. 21-30
"Play is a huge aspect of our mission, because play is so important in the development not only of children and their brains, but of adults in regenerating their brain cells. It's really true; we have a course that talks all about that," Warfield said.
Ann Kienzle owns of Chicago toy store chain Play, which has shops in Logan Square, Lincoln Park, Andersonville, and the West Loop.
"We believe that a personalized experience for your child. I pick out toys that I believe the kids of Chicago will love, and will speak to them," she said. "We carry things that represent all sorts of cultures and communities, and we can provide something that a big box store can't provide; and that's knowing your child, and helping you find the perfect gift for them."
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a big push to support small and local businesses. Warfield said more people have been coming back to local toy stores as a result.
"They definitely are coming back. They learned during the pandemic that their neighborhoods were vital to their existence, because they weren't going very far away, and so our stores that understood that really did a good job of welcoming people that maybe hadn't been aware of them before," she said. "We hope they continue to come back, as we supported them all through that tough time."
Kienzle opened her third Play store in March 2020, at the very start of the pandemic, and expanded again with her fourth store in May.
"So we're kind of still expanding during this crazy time, and we're finding that the community really wanted to support us, and knew that by doing that, we'd be here afterwards, and we are, and we're growing, and we can't wait for the holiday season," she said.
Even with inflation sending prices up for everyone, Kienzle said the one thing people still want to do is provide a good holiday season for their kids, "and so in that regard, we feel pretty lucky."
