Blue Orange Games is lucky to partner with a fantastic bunch of retailers who are passionate about their businesses and supportive of our games. We want to do more to recognize the stores and individuals that make our mission possible. That’s how our monthly spotlight on an outstanding Blue Orange Games retailer came about!
We are pleased to announce that Brilliant Sky Toys in Wilmington, North Carolina is our Store of the Month for August! Renaud, a member of our sales team, nominated the store because of their dedication to their local community and their passion for creating fun times with their customers.
Mike and his wife Annika decided to open their store (Brilliant Sky) back in 2010, because they both loved working with kids and had previously run a rental company in Cape Cod, focused on renting equipment to families during the vacation season. They decided to move to North Carolina, and transfered their passion for providing seasonal entertainment into year-long entertainment in the toys and games industry.
As specialty retailers, Mike and Annika believe that children (and families) can learn a lot together through creative, fun play. As Mike told me on the phone, he believes that our game Spot it! is the perfect example of learning through play. Before Spot it, he had many games on his shelves that were good games. But once he was able to break out Spot it! and start demoing it, playing with families and children in his store brought a liveliness and excitement that was previously missing. As he put it, “Spot it! saved my store”
The joy of playing Spot it with their customers opened Annika and Mike’s eyes to the power of demoing games. Not only did they start selling more, they also had A LOT more fun. Nowadays, their store is full of demos. They are especially fond of the giant versions of some of our wooden games. “It’s so much fun to watch customers come into the store, and see their eyes pop out when they see all the demos. Their eyes just light up!”
While they love any game that brings educational play to families, they are especially fond of games that can be explained and played in less than 5 minutes. That’s why our games like Spot it, Gobblet Gobblers, Fastrack, Niya, and Aztack do so well in their store. They can play all 3 games in just a couple a minutes, and everyone has a great time!
Mike’s advice to anyone starting a new toy store is to “learn the power of demoing. Have tons of demos available. Place demos on the tables, and under the tables, and on the shelves and behind the counter. And always start with the fast-playing and easy to learn games.
“Our staff does a great job of demoing and selling the games. We teach them the fast card games. It is so important that customers understand the value a game will bring to them, instead of just looking at it in the box. If someone asks how to play a game, you need to be able to break it out and start playing it. That is how you will succeed.”
“You need to show customers that everybody and anybody can play a game. Games breaks down borders, and open up fun rewarding experiences for families to share together.”
For more information, visit http://wilmingtontoystores.com.
The whole team at Blue Orange Games would like to thank Mike, Annika and the rest of the Brilliant Sky Toys staff for believing in our games and for creating rewarding, educational experiences for their community. Congrats!