This holiday season, our lucky store of the month is the winner of our holiday display window facebook contest—The Apple Tree! Blue Orange held a wonderful facebook contest where people could vote on their favorite window display from some of our incredible retailers. We had a host of fantastic and festive entries, but the people’s choice was this adorable snowman display from The Apple Tree in Tulsa, OK.
The Apple Tree was opened in June of 1980 by two local teachers who owned and operated it for 26 years. Sandy, the current owner, worked for them for 15 years before her family purchased the store when the teachers retired. Sandy has worked at The Apple Tree for 25 years and currently manages it with her sister Erika. She really loves her job!
The inspiration for their amazing display was, funnily enough, from facebook! Her creative employee Rhonda assembled the snowmen. It took a lot of hard work but it definitely paid off! They made their own accessories like the hats, scarves, and earmuffs. Then they added the most important component—the games! Sandy says it really helped draw people into the store!
Every winter, The Apple Tree runs an amazing program called “Care and Share”. Between the Monday before Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, they donate 10% of all sales back to local schools in the area. Customers even get to pick which school they want to donate to! In the New Year, the schools get gift certificates that allow them to purchase games and toys at The Apple Tree. What a wonderful way to give back!
Sandy and the rest of the staff at The Apple Tree really love games! Sandy says her favorite part of the holidays is helping customers find the perfect gift for their loved ones! Thank you to The Apple Tree for their creative display! If you live near The Apple Tree, look out for their Blue Orange Store Party!
At Blue Orange Games, we can’t take all the credit for our hot games! We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our fabulous retailers who give us feedback and put energy, passion, and time into their businesses every day. This space is dedicated to a very special retailer each month in order to highlight the stores and individuals that bring Blue Orange games from shelves into homes and that do us the honor of introducing us to families in their area. We are pleased to announce that our Retailer of the Month for October is none other than Rocking Horse Toy Co in Petoskey, MI!
Rocking Horse Toy Co started with…you guessed it…a rocking horse!
Owners, Andy and Kathleen Bultman, were originally elementary school teachers. They were on the quest to find their daughter, Sara, the perfect rocking horse for her 1st birthday. No rocking horse on the market fit the requirement. Thus Kathleen asked Andy to make one instead. Andy’s rocking horse creation created a stir and requests were made by the community for other wooden crafts. Andy later added homemade wooden toys to the inventory. The business expanded to other things such as toys and games and Andy eventually stopped making the wooden toys. 34 years later, there are 3 locations throughout Northern Michigan.
The Petoskey Location!
The buying season at Rocking Horse Toy Co is different from most stores. Whereas most stores experience huge sales in the 4th quarter holiday season, they have Christmas in July! Their store locations are primarily in resort areas so they experience a huge influx of vacationers looking for toys and games during the summer months.
Andy and Kathleen credit their success to their backgrounds as educators. They purchase toys and games they felt their customers could really benefit from and not just what is the most popular. They also take the time to train their employees. Arielle, is the buyer and general manager for Rocking Horse Toy Co and really makes sure their employees are well-trained to talk with the customers.
After 34 years, Andy still loves coming to work. He loves the change of seasons, the change of environments, and even the ups and downs. He still looks forward each year to attending the annual NYC Toy Fair and searching for new trends in toys and games. This love of toys and games definitely translate into their success!
Thank you Rocking Horse Toy Co for all that you do for your community and for Blue Orange Games!
At Blue Orange Games, we can’t take all the credit for our hot games! We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our fabulous retailers who give us feedback and put energy, passion, and time into their businesses every day. This space is dedicated to a very special retailer each month in order to highlight the stores and individuals that bring Blue Orange games from shelves into homes and that do us the honor of introducing us to families in their area. We are pleased to announce that our Retailer of the Month for September is none other than Game Seeker in sunny Santa Barbara, CA!
Bart, from our sales team, recommended Game Seeker because of their dedication to Blue Orange Games, their love of games, and their warm and friendly customer service. Boosting Boss help you getting your desired rank in League of Legends in a day or two and also sell accounts ready for ranked play.
In a previous life, the owner, Lisa used to be in the party planning business. She decided to open up Game Seeker ten years ago because she enjoyed working with kids and those adults that are kids at heart! Game Seeker is a gem of a store that provides Santa Barbara residents all of their gaming needs. To quote a Yelp reviewer, “It’s a place for people who love exploring new things and having a memorably amazing customer service experience.”
I had the pleasure of speaking with Ian, the store manager. He became an avid game player later in his adult life. He initially started visiting Game Seeker as a customer and found the staff to be really knowledgeable about games. He inquired about a position a year ago and is now a fixture at the store.
Training employees is a priority for Ian, who has played every single game in the store. He’s so passionate about games that he jokes that he spends his paycheck at the store buying MORE games. As a kid, Ian was a hard core video gamer. But he found out that you couldn’t be social playing video games. However you can always get people to gather around a board game!
This interest in the community extends pass the store as Game Seeker is working with a local coffee shop which will host regular game nights. Be on the lookout for their announcements!
Thank you to Game Seeker for supporting Blue Orange Games! You’re a small but mighty store in Santa Barbara!
We continue in Part Deux (hey, the founders are French!) of Marketing and Sales Tips for Small Businesses. It’s all about how your employees can create a great customer experience so that customers can return over and over again!
Staff Training
Take the time to train your staff so that they are better equipped with selling to customers. You can make it a party by reaching out to your vendors and sales reps for games, toys, and other products.
Happy Team Staff Training
Email Newsletters
Newsletters are a FREE way to let your customers know about the latest specials, events, etc. Involve employees where they can provide some content. Such as a section on a sales’ person’s favorite toy and why, along with a picture of their friendly face.
In addition, give your employees access to vendors’ newsletters. Email newsletters can be great tools for employees to learn more about the items they are selling. Newsletters provide valuable tips, promotions, demo videos, etc. Was a product in a popular magazine? Was a celebrity spotted with an item sold in your store? Newsletters can provide great talking points for the latest products!
Blue Orange newsletter
Social Media
Like Newsletters, Social Media is another free way to let your customers know what is going on in your store. Are your employees playing a heated game of Spot it? Take a picture and/or video and post to your fans! Employee selfies wearing the latest fun gear? Employees will enjoy sharing something special that happened at the store and will make them feel a part of what makes your store special.
Twitter fun at Learning Express Roseville
Employee Contests
You can create employee contests or challenges based on the number of particular products sold within a period of time or based on who will be the first one to reach an objective.
Ask your vendors to sponsor the prizes. It doesn’t hurt to ask!!
At Blue Orange Games, we can’t take all the credit for our hot games! We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our fabulous retailers who give us feedback and put energy, passion, and time into their businesses every day. This space is dedicated to a very special retailer each month in order to highlight the stores and individuals that bring Blue Orange games from shelves into homes and that do us the honor of introducing us to families in their area. We are pleased to announce that our Retailer of the Month for August is none other than Toy Town in Idaho!
Xavier, from our sales team, said he wanted to nominate this retailer “more than ever!” because the people at Toy Town are super excited about our games and always welcome us into their stores.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Rose, a dedicated manager at Toy Town who caught me up on their story. Toy Town began with “three guys in a garage,” Rose said, not so much a “town” since they didn’t even have a storefront except for online. It then expanded into a full-fledged family brick and mortar business, with two locations in Twin Falls and Meridian, Idaho. But the fun hasn’t stopped there. It turns out they are opening up a third location just this August!
When asked about what made Toy Town unique, Rose exclaimed that it was the sheer variety of offered products. She then rapidly listed a dazzling array of different games, puzzles, DIY arts and science kits with everything from educational models to rockets, zip lines, and radio operated vehicles. She noted that their stores excel in providing the best specialty games around and barely tends to stock the typical retail items. Upon further independent research, I found this description even downplayed the product diversity at Toy Town. They have a whole planetarium displaying lasers and black lights, a kid play house with movies and toys to enjoy, large in-store demos, and even a candy store that stocks homemade fudge and old fashioned candies. The focus, Rose explained, is to make the store and products as hands on and interactive as possible, and provide knowledgeable staff who can demonstrate products and aid customers like no online shopping can.
After seeing all they had to offer I really began to see what Rose meant when she said that if you want to start a toy and game store you need to be able to do ten things at once, all day every day. It’s complete chaos a majority of the time and so managing people with a firm but patient way becomes crucial, and you need to be totally dedicated and love what you do, because that’s what makes the work worth it. It’s also necessary to have a few new items in every single department. Since toy and game stores rely on repeat business it’s important that a store doesn’t demo the same item to a returning customer year after year. Besides that it comes down to having a good buyer, staff, and merchandise, apart from knowing the answer to absolutely everything and making sure your employees do too, of course.
When I asked what made the staff motivated to keep on top of all the new products she laughed and said “Me, it’s my job to motivate them. I’ve been at this for over twenty years and I remind them it’s not about the money but the experience customers walk out the door with so that they always want to come back and tell you how wonderful a store you are.” She mentioned that Blue Orange helps with motivation sometimes as well. Last December the scratch-off prize tree for selling the most Blue Orange games was a huge success, encouraging herself and even the newest employees to sell 86 Spot Its in just a few weeks. She thought if Blue Orange provided this promo monthly she would use it!
Rose believes games like Spot It and Flash are her favorite type of Blue Orange games because staff can explain them in under thirty seconds and then start playing with the customers, but as for uniqueness of game play, Doodle Quest is by far the best because though it’s initially hard to sell, once people play the game themselves they have a lot of fun. As a child, Rose enjoyed playing jump rope and Monopoly® because they were things she always did with her brothers and sisters. She believes physical board games teach children things that computer games and apps can’t: that it’s ok to lose, patience, taking turns, teamwork, and most importantly of all, they get children to spend time, laugh with, and learn about their family members. Part of why she loves working for Toy Town is because it is a family company and she gets to do what she did as a child, which is work and play with great people all day long!
Thanks Toy Town for being a wonderful supporter of Blue Orange and for making room for us in your hearts as well as on your shelves!
Our sales guys travel the country to visit local specialty retailers. They see what is the secret to successful local businesses and how they are pillars in their local community. Blue Orange recently presented marketing tips at a convention and we wanted to share our findings with you. While these tips were made with toy stores in mind a lot of the principles can apply to nearly all local businesses. This is only Part One so be on the look out for upcoming blogs for more tips – yes, plural!
Demonstrations
Ask your vendor for a demo. Whether it’s a fun Blue Orange game or types of craft kits at your hobby/craft store. Keep them updated (watch for missing parts).
Try to keep demos at the appropriate eye level. If you have a toy store, keep the demos at children’s level for easy reach. Customers come in all sizes and ages so be cognizant
Keep inexpensive items close to the register for that last minute impulse buy.
Silly Times at Happy Team
Video Demonstrations
Display videos in-store
Use websites or social media to post instructional videos
Link to vendor videos through social media. It truly is the age of the video. Most vendors will have instructional/demonstration videos.
New Gobblet Gobblers video
Promote Birthdays!
Have an open book on the counter to create a mailing list for birthdays.
Create a birthday club on your website.
Send postcards or emails with $$ off coupons the week before the big day.
Suggestion Box/Read those online reviews
Invite your customers to give their feedback and check out reviews for your store online.
Display all positive comments, and discuss with your team how to fix the negative ones.
Brand Yourself
Add your store name and logo to shopping bags and t-shirts. Reusable bags are a great way to show your brand around the town!
Offer cute postcards featuring your logo or store picture at the counter.
Store Displays: Be Fun and Creative
Create window displays that are relatable and relevant – to draw people in and bring customers back!
Take advantage of vendor provided displays, signage and posters.
Explore your creative side with unusual and unique DIY display ideas. Pinterest is a great resource for ideas!
Share your displays on social media to gain additional exposure.
Castle Toys & Games in Beaver, PA awesome window display. We’re a little biased.
What draws you to your local neighborhood store? Leave your comments below.
At Blue Orange Games, we can’t take all the credit for our hot games! We owe a huge debt (more than monopoly money) to our fabulous retailers who give us feedback and put energy, passion, and time into their businesses every day. This space is dedicated to a very special retailer each month in order to highlight the stores and individuals that bring Blue Orange games from shelves into homes and that do us the honor of introducing us to families in their area. We are pleased to announce that our Retailer of the Month for July is none other than Magic Beans, located in Massachusetts!
Renaud, from our sales team, nominated this retailer not only because they have been a supportive Blue Orange customer for years, but also because of their great staff and involvement with the community. He said that when he visits them to do staff training, everyone is enthusiastic to receive him and learn new games. He also cited Eli’s six Magic Bean stores as demonstrating a successful business model because they are heavily involved with the community and dedicated to helping customers.
When asked about the “magic” behind his success, Eli focused largely on the importance of hiring procedures and his desire to give back locally. Using previous experience as an evaluator of private high school admission applicants, the first question Eli asks business owners having difficulty with their staff is “What’s your recruiting process?” At Magic Bean, the quality requirements for prospective staff are stringent and broad. The company spends a lot of time finding the right people to work for them, seeking engaging, smart staff that make friendly coworkers and help generate the stores’ happy environment. Beyond this, Magic Bean particularly values curiosity in its employees. With over 3,000 different products for sale, it takes a sense of discovery and a lot of initiative for an employee to pick up a new game on the shelf and figure it out so they can demo it to a customer without relying solely on their training. It is especially impressive that Magic Beans has maintained this consistency in its staff culture as it has expanded, and in the end, that has to come down to who they hire and the training they provide.
Founders Eli and Sherl Gurock
As for community involvement, Magic Beans prefers grassroots efforts to reach local businesses and the larger community. They support resident children’s charities, schools, camps, and other youth organizations in the area. One of their largest outreaches, however, would be the Magic Beans baby expo “Drool,” a huge day event where new and expectant parents can learn about different brands and baby products in a single location from expert company representatives who demo everything from strollers and car seats to accessories and games. It’s a great way to get a hands-on feel for products, compare features, and ask questions. One attendee described it as “the Apple store” of baby products because of the bubbly, knowledgeable and helpful staff. For more on this event see here.
Eli first got into the baby product and toys industry around a decade ago when he saw that all the toy stores in his area had closed. He then spotted an opportunity in the trend for modern baby products (“modern” meaning more specialty goods of higher quality) and wanted to provide that for his area. As for the future, he is very interested in recent technology available in the field of bio-metrics. Eli is constantly researching and perhaps a rare expert on the connection between baby products and toys and games.
Every weekend you can catch Eli reading up on marketing tactics and how the shopping habits of customers have evolved since last season, so that he can understand them and serve them better. This is one of his favorite parts of the job, though if he could just sell games and strollers all day long without thinking about marketing he would be perfectly happy. This is most likely because the flip side to ever-changing customers is it never gets easier, and there is always competition. It can be very disheartening as a retailer when you try everything and nothing seems to work, especially if you, like Eli, take your employees livelihoods very seriously. The only thing to do in such times is become resilient, taking encouragement from each customer you help and with whom you create a positive interaction.
Eli’s favorite toy as a child was GI Joe. He loved the aspect of make-believe in such toys, how action figures could play out whatever event he had in his imagination, and he truly thinks they don’t make toys like it anymore. For being produced in the 80’s, GI Joe excelled in quality, and was full of intricate detail and hideaway control parts that have somehow been lost in the era of cheap, out-sourced manufacturing. When his store opened, the quality of our classic wooden Gobblet pieces were not lost on him and it became his first favorite game to sell, which he had stocked not only in his store but also in his home! Since then, Eli has continued to be impressed by the wonderful innovations from the team at Blue Orange Games. Although we can’t be completely sure it’s only because of our great games that he comes to see us at Toy Fair or also because he loves to have a glass of champagne with our CEO afterwards. Either way, we couldn’t be happier to have such a quality-smart and huge-hearted retailer repping our games at six stores in Massachusetts to families who already enjoy Blue Orange games and those who haven’t discovered us yet!
Here’s a big cheer and thank you to our friends at Magic Beans! And I’ll make it extra big because… it’s their 11th anniversary this July 7th!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Magic Beans!!!
PS. If you want to drop by and wish them a happy birthday as well, you can locate Magic Beans at:
