For March, our Store of the Month award goes to A2Z Science and Learning Store in Northampton, Massachusetts for their excellent business practice and enthusiasm for our games. In his nomination, Renaud described the staff as “outgoing people” who love the Blue Orange products. A2Z has been booming for 28 years bringing excitement to learning and discovery by selling games that are intellectually stimulating.  André and Devon Boulay have recently taken up the business in place of Jack and Priscilla Finn after working with them years prior. Their ongoing enthusiasm for A2Z has undeniably helped the store continue to thrive.

During the interview, André expressed a preference for “smarter” games. When visiting us at New York Toy Fair, he and Devon loved Dr. Eureka, Top That! and Gigamons. He loved how Dr. Eureka and Top That! made the players use their brains in new ways. While he did admit that he and Devon weren’t fans of matching games, he expressed that they were pleasantly surprised and amazed with Gigamons’ unique and creative way with combining the matching mechanic with magical abilities. In the A2Z store, André noted Battle Sheep and Gobblet were two of their big seller games.  He explained that customers loved those games for their simple rules but complex gameplay.

André stressed the pertinence in engaging the customer with a game. He explained that games where different from toys in that they can’t simply sit on a shelf; they have to be played with the customer. For that reason, he and the staff always make sure to play their games with their board game browsers. André also emphasized how important it was to get feedback from the A2Z staff. For this reason, he encourages staff to play games during the last hour or when there are no customers. He only wants items that he or the staff would want on the shelves. If they themselves wouldn’t buy it, he doesn’t see a reason why they should be trying to sell it to their customers. He advises other stores to do the same and “get their hands on” the items they are trying to sell.

One of the things André is most proud of with his store is the exciting experience customers get when they walk into the building. Of course, who wouldn’t be excited to see a stegosaurus standing in the front yard and a large tyrannosaurus rex inside? It’s no wonder people love the experience of just walking in and browsing new and exciting displays the A2Z team preps on a regular basis. Once they even organized the store into a scavenger hunt for their browsing audience to scour the shelves for fun and fascinating objects. There’s no telling what A2Z might surprise their visitors with next!

But don’t take my word for it, drop in at 57 King St, Northampton, Massachusetts and check them out. The staff hold Yo-Yo classes Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 4:30 to 5:30pm, and they’re even hosting the A2Z Dog Bite Yo-Yo Club Skill Toy Night on March 18^th. If you can’t drop in, visit their website!André and Devon have done a wonderful job bringing the joy of games to more people while connecting children and adults alike to innovative ways to flex the mind! Keep up the great work!

Check out some of A2Z’s cool displays!

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Blue Orange would like to show their love and appreciation to the February 2016 Store of the Month—Toys On The Square in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania! Congratulations to Steve, Grafton, and your team for your dedication to selling and playing the Blue Orange games.

Toys On The Square has been selling toys for over 25 years and has been buying games from Blue Orange since 2003. The store also doubles as a pottery painting studio to further inspire creativity in their customers. However, one of their greatest marvels is their toy selection. One might say that they have all the warmth and customer care of a family owned business while maintaining a vast arrangement of toys one would find in a larger company. Customers are known to walk in the store and gawk at the grand supply and variation of toys that stock their shelves.

I had the pleasure of talking to Steve about his experience working at Toys On The Square. Grafton, Steve’s friend and Toys On The Square store owner, first hired Steve to work at Toys On The Square. Ten years later, he asked Steve to help him manage sales. Since his promotion, Steve has been meeting up up with our sales interns to test our games for the Toys On The Square shelves. He admires the Blue Orange Team’s way of meeting with the store owners in person and showing them how to play the games they are selling. Steve makes sure to also play the game with his customers so they know that they will enjoy what their buying.

Needless to say, Steve is an enthusiastic “game guru” who loves to throw out the manual after the first read and put his own twist on the game. His favorite Blue Orange games are Spot It! and Fastrack. He’s so good at Fastrack that he beat our previous sales intern, Max, at the game.  Steve makes sure to know every game on the shelf. In fact, if he doesn’t know a game, he will break open the box and play it with a customer right there!

The best advice Steve can give to future toy store owners is to keep a wide variety of toys for all age groups. “You almost need a little bit of everything to be successful,” he said. However, he does understand the value of catching a child’s attention at a young age, before they get sucked into the technological tidal wave of the modern age. He believes that playing a physical board game gives “a broader range of experience” than just playing something on your phone. Rather than just tapping a screen, the player has to engage their senses and use their motor coordination while fully communicating with their opponent. Therefore, it’s important to show young children the value of a good physical game, so they can best develop those skills and facilitate human connection.

It is little wonder why Toys On The Square won February’s Store of the Month! Check out their site here or drop by their store in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. Congratulations again to Toys On The Square! Your dedication to Blue Orange and your customers is undeniable! We wish you the best of success in the future years to come!