If chain retailers are sized up annually by how early they open their doors on Black Friday ”“ and how deeply they slash prices ”“ Chris Kilbane keeps a different yardstick for his New Canaan Toy Store.
Kilbane recalls the episode when a parent called in on Christmas eve, her overseas flight delayed such that she would not make closing time and complete the holiday shopping. You know the ending, of course ”“ the store stayed open until she made it into town, and a loyal customer”™s patronage was locked in stone.
Not that New Canaan Toy Store has had issues with loyalties ”“ over its nearly 90-year history, it has survived the Great Depression, the Internet era, and now the Great Recession. The only area toy store that can match it for longevity is Blinn”™s in Fairfield. Opened in 1933, today Blinn”™s is owned by Mark Crofutt, whose father started working at the store at the age of 16 and over time bought into the business.
Crofutt attributes the store”™s survival in part to his father”™s decision to buy the building and property, allowing it to have a larger footprint than many independent toy stores without having to pay the accompanying higher lease rates.
Toys “R” Us closure helps Blinn”™s
Crofutt said the store did not suffer significantly during the most recent economic downturn. He suspects part of that had to do with the closure of a Toys “R” Us on the Fairfield-Westport border. If Blinn”™s has long prided itself on carrying toys you might not find on the shelves of big-box retailers, Crofutt welcomed the additional business from those who scour those shelves first during the holidays.
“We got lucky,” Crofutt said. “If you see it on TV, we probably don”™t have it. ”¦ If I start competing with those guys, I won”™t be here in a few years.”
In a bid to support its independent members, the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association sponsored its first annual Neighborhood Toy Store Day on Nov. 13; ASTRA said two-thirds of its participating members reported increased foot traffic on that day from a year ago.
Despite the recession, ASTRA said it has set three consecutive attendance records at its annual Marketplace & Academy trade show, held last June in Providence, R.I. The next ASTRA Marketplace & Academy show is scheduled June 19-22, 2011 in Anaheim, Calif.
“Even in the midst of an extended economic downturn, ASTRA members continue to tend to the basics of their businesses,” said Kathleen McHugh, president of ASTRA, in a statement released after last summer”™s show. “These are not business owners who sit around and wait for things to get better. They show up; they invest in new products.”
Toy retailers large and small gather in New York beginning Feb. 13, 2011, for the Toy Industry Association Inc.”™s annual Toy Fair.
More than a dozen independents
Excluding hobby shops, Fairfield County neighborhoods are home to more than a dozen independent toy stores ”“ including the Darien Toy Box, which has survived the recession to see its third holiday shopping season this year; and Polly Wolly Doodle, whose owner opened his first storefront after previously selling toys on the Internet.
There used to be more. The tiny Toy Room has eked out an existence on Bethel”™s main drag; a startup across the street did not, despite foot traffic from children frequenting the popular Dr. Mike”™s ice cream parlor next door. And in Ridgefield, the Orange Elephant children”™s book and toy store closed in October, despite its location at the head of Main Street next to a candy store.
For his part, Kilbane said he has strongly considered opening additional locations in Fairfield County, as the case with his main competitor in town The Toy Chest, which also has locations in Wilton and Ridgefield. For now, he is just focused on the holiday season, which as usual has brought no shortage of surprises.
“We are selling a lot of disco balls,” Kilbane said, chuckling in disbelief.
