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 Labyrinth Games and Puzzles in Washington, D.C. is our Store of the Month for November! Xavier and Renaud, from our sales team, nominated this store because of their dedication to their local community and their passion for creating fun times with their customers.

We have all experienced that ‘last minute I need a gift moment’ once or maybe many times in our lives. It seems when that rush and panic sets in, there is not a fitting gift anywhere on the shelf, so usually we grab any gift and get on our way. However,  Kathleen Donahue, owner of Labyrinth Games and Puzzles, was not satisfied with this. After searching and searching for a birthday gift for her son, Kathleen had the bright idea to open up a store of her own.

Labyrinth is not just any game store, as you can tell by the sophisticated name. It is a store that connects the community with one another through not just any game, but brainy games. While the store is tailored to many adult likes, there are also a huge selection for kids ages 1 to 100. If you want to work your brain and have fun, I would say Labyrinth is the place for you.

Kathleen takes pride in her D.C. community. Her store is located on Capitol Hill where you get a small town feel, but are surrounded by a big city. The small town feel could be attributed to Kathleen herself. She works to raise money to donate games to local schools and hosts game nights almost every night of the week. Some of these game nights are geared towards teenagers, while others are geared towards adults! Game nights can include magic shows, role play, and sometimes a Blue Orange game night.

The happiness of Kathleen’s customers is why she is in the retail business, but the buying power is not always in her hands. She will host game nights with vendors, such as Blue Orange Games, and have the customers act as buyers. Sometimes these ‘step-in’ buyers are teenagers and sometimes they are adults. Whatever games they think will sell and be enjoyed by the D.C. crowd, Kathleen is happy to purchase. This tactic may seem crazy to some business folk, but to Kathleen it makes sense, this is the best way to insure that the customers receive the games that they want.

Whether you are a Senator or just a teenager looking for an awesome brainy toy, Labyrinth is the place for you. You will find only games that challenge your brain, but will also put a smile on your face!

The whole team at Blue Orange Games would like to thank Labyrinth’s team for believing in our games and for creating rewarding, educational experiences for their community. Congrats!

For more information, visit http://www.labyrinthgameshop.com/

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 Blickenstaff’s in Provo, Utah is our Store of the Month for October! Yann, our sales manager, nominated the store because of their dedication to their local community and their passion for creating fun times with their customers.

Walking into Blickenstaff’s, the first thing you notice is a beautiful tree in the center of the store, green leaves and all. Your eyes continue to wander, finding a wall of candy and perhaps some Whirly Pops sticking out of a jar. You can’t help but to notice the train tracks floating just below the ceiling, and perhaps you spot the plane and ship doing just the same.

The atmosphere is as if Willy Wonka, Peter Pan and Geppetto dreamed up the perfect store for kids and those kids that never want to grow up! As if you think Blickenstaff’s has done enough…there is more. Blickenstaff’s has joined with Kickstarter to bring their customers more surprises.

Blickenstaff’s Traditions brings you a beautiful heirloom tin filled with interactive traditions to help families create memories and have more fun. This project has been backed and they have successfully reached their goal of 15,000 dollars.

The mission of Blickenstaff’s Traditions is to mimic some of their favorite family pastimes and bring that to other families.Traditions-in-a-box is a fairly new idea to most out there, but it is one that will bring your family together. The traditions are not time consuming, nor do they take a lot of effort.

Like Blickenstaff’s, Blue Orange Games understands and appreciates the enhancement of interactions among families and communities. Playing board games is one way to spend time together, while having fun.

The whole team at Blue Orange Games would like to thank the Blickenstaff’s team for believing in our games and for creating rewarding, educational experiences for their community. Congrats!

For more information, visit http://www.blickenstaffs.com/

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 Timbuk Toys in Denver, Colorado is our Store of the Month for September! Florian, our sales manager, nominated the store because of their dedication to their local community and their passion for creating fun times with their customers.

Timbuk Toys owner, Sallie, studied architecture in college, but had a dream of opening a retail store that could bring people in the community together. What better way to do that than to play games? 22 years ago, Sallie started her business all by herself with her old fashioned cash register in a 600 square foot store. She slowly expanded moving to a 1000 square foot store to 3,500 square feet, to having 4 stores in the Denver area of Colorado.

What is Sallie’s key to success? As she stated, “Be conservative with your dollars, generous with your friendships, and true to your values.” It is important to Sallie to appreciate every single person within Timbuk Toys; how the employees are treated on the inside will directly affect how guests and business partners are treated. Appreciation of those around her business is exactly why Timbuk Toys has been awarded store of the month.

One of Sallie’s most satisfying parts of her job is working with sales people and demoing games. Florian often visits Sallie, “I love at 10 am when the door opens and there is Florian with a bucket of games ready to play.” One of her fondest Blue Orange Games memories was meeting at ASTRA and playing Battle Sheep. As Sallie put it, “I can not remember having such a good belly laugh as I did playing Battle Sheep with Blue Orange at ASTRA.”

Sallie has always enjoyed the social games that bring people together, such as Battle Sheep. She admits to not being a big gamer, but if the rules are simple, you can count her in! Spot it! is one of those games that are simple to understand and a fun game to play with friends. Sallie stated that Spot it! was her favorite game because “It is simple yet perfect, bringing multiple ages together and you can teach the game in 5 seconds.”

Sallie believes that “America will continue to be excited about the process of play and building intelligence.” Naturally, the infatuation with electronics will continue, but “nothing will extinguish the energy of a group of people gathering around a board game.” Opening a store in a big city, Sallie has worked to value shoppers who appreciate their dollar, while bringing the community together with the best service and games from around the world.

With a female driven company, Sallie believes that this is a unique factor to her business. Not only does she take pride in this aspect, but also in her involvement in the community. Starting a business to serve the local community and beginning by herself, Sallie has brought Timbuk Toys to the top.

The whole team at Blue Orange Games would like to thank Sallie and the rest of the Timbuk Toys staff for believing in our games and for creating rewarding, educational experiences for their community. Congrats!

For more information, visit http://www.timbuktoys.com/timbuk/

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!

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 new monthly spotlight on an outstanding Blue Orange Games retailer came about!

We are pleased to announce that Fun and Games in Sacramento, California  is our Store of the Month for July! Xavier, a member of our sales team, nominated the store because of their love of Spot it! Party and their dedication to their local community.

Rose and the staff of Fun & Games believe that their top priority as a store is to create fun times. Then selling toys and games comes second, after making sure her customers have a positive experience. That is why the store has such a pro-play policy. Any of the games on their shelves are available to try before you buy. If they don’t already have a demo out, they are more than happy to open up a copy and play with that one. This positive attitude, and emphasis on customer experience, is why so many people return to Fun and Games — They had such a great time playing that game just wouldn’t get out of their head.

The favorite game to play with customers? Spot it! and Spot it Party! The quick-action and easy-to-learn rules makes all the Spot it games a delight for Rose and her customers to play over and over again. With such a sincere passion for the game, it’s no surprise that Fun and Games was the number one seller of Spot it Party last year. Customers couldn’t help but catch Rose’s passion.

One of the most charming things about the Fun and Games store is their signature wall in the back. If customers can beat Rose or her staff at one of their games, they get to sign the store’s wall as a reward. It is super fun to read through all of the positive comments in the back of the wall.

For more information, visit www.oldsacfunandgames.com/.

The whole team at Blue Orange Games would like to thank Rose and the rest of the Fun and Games staff for believing in our games and for creating rewarding, educational experiences for their community. Congrats!

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 new monthly spotlight on an outstanding Blue Orange Games retailer came about!

We are pleased to announce that the Imagination Station in Franklin, Indiana is our store of the month for June! Our sales rep Xavier recommended the store because they just celebrated the 10^th year anniversary last month, and are always a pleasure to deal with!

The new owner Debi took over ownership of the store this spring, after the original owners decided to move on. Debi had worked at the Imagination Station for almost eight years, so it was a no-brainer for her to take over running the store she cared so much about. Her favorite part of the job? “Everyday is different. I love seeing what’s new and what kids play with most in the store. And I really enjoy helping parents and grandparents find the perfect gift for their kids.” It is this passion for her job that makes the Imagination Station standout as an example of how to turn a store into a community gathering place.

The Imagination Station is dedicated to providing their local community with fun activities beyond just toys and games. They have regular storytimes in the summer, and a special summer book club that meets in the months of June and July. And my personal favorite event – A night focused on inspiring young entrepreneurs focusing on encouraging kids to develop the skills and abilities needed to  create innovative, creative products. As part of the event, a local college professor comes into the store to talk to the kids and inspire them — motivating them to one day start their own business.

Debi and her staff treasure their relationship with their customers. “The most important thing is the relationships. We know the people, we know the children. We greet everyone. We make sure to ask why are they here? What is special about their visit today? We wamt to know what is going on in their life. Did you just ace a test? Pee on potty for the first time?  – Whatever it is, we wan to celebrate with them.”

The whole team at Blue Orange Games would like to thank Betsy and the rest of the Magic Box staff for believing in our games and for creating rewarding, educational experiences for their community. Congrats!

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 new monthly spotlight on an outstanding Blue Orange Games retailer came about!

We are pleased to announce that Magic Box Toys in New Orleans, Louisiana is our Store of the Month for May! Renaud, a member of our sales team, nominated the store because of their passion for our product and their dedication to their local community.

The Magic Box strives to provide kids and adults with quality toys and games that can’t be found in “big box” retail stores.

Since it opened in 1995, store owner Betsy Ordermann has made sure that her local community is at the heart and soul of her business. She listens to and cares about her customers, and prides herself on carrying the products that her community needs. They have a monthly newsletter that lets everyone know about the best deals and community events at the store. And they hold several events each month — story time, instructional classes, guest speakers, and fun household activities. Recently, they even partnered with other local businesses to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!

It is exactly this sort of commitment to their community that impressed us so much!

They understand the importance of rewarding their customers. They have a great loyalty program that gives 10% discount to members AND throws in a nifty, reusable blue tote bag so that their customers can help the environment WHILE saving money!

Betsy and her staff are also very passionate and knowledgable about games, and they pride themselves on being able to offer the perfect toy/game for any occasion. To this end, they divide all the toys and games in their store into 8 different categories (which they appropriately name the “FUNdamentals“) so that people shopping in there store can find exactly what you are looking for:

For more information, visit www.magicboxneworleans.com.

The whole team at Blue Orange Games would like to thank Betsy and the rest of the Magic Box staff for believing in our games and for creating rewarding, educational experiences for their community. Congrats!