Shoppers ’embrace imagination’ and return to toy stores for Christmas

After a year that was anything but fun and games, it seems many of us are seeking just that.

Christmas shoppers are returning to their humble local toy shop in throngs, a welcome sight after a gruelling year for the retail sector.

Rachael Arkovits, the owner of Treetop Toy Shop in Melbourne’s Brunswick, was delighted Christmas shopping had kicked off early this year.

“People are excited to get out and spend money,” she said. “We didn’t do a huge amount online when we had to close down which was devastating but as soon as the doors opened, it’s been busy ever since.” 

The shop closed for about three months during the pandemic when Melbourne was in strict lockdown.

“During lockdown, we sold all our puzzles and we couldn’t re-order because the whole country was looking for puzzles,” Ms Arkovits said.  “Right now, we can’t keep kites in stock; they are literally flying out the door.”

Boutique toy shop owners say there has been a shift in buying habits this year, with shoppers willing to fork out for handmade or high-quality products.

“There has been a massive swing towards wooden toys,” said Pamela Blyton, the owner of Monkey Puzzle Toy Store in Summer Hill, in Sydney’s inner west.  “I’ve been sending them all over Australia.” 

For the past 16 years, Ms Blyton has stocked wooden sets, mostly as a personal passion project.

“I never sold a huge amount of them. Now they are barely hitting the shelf; I have waiting lists of people that want them.”

Ms Blyton, who also owns another toy shop in Annandale with her husband, partly puts it down to Instagram influencers, but also believes parents are wanting to “invest in a $300 wooden block set rather than buy five bits of plastic junk that they’ll go through pretty quickly”. 

Her shops have also experienced a spike in demand for craft products and family games.

“There seems to be a resurgence towards families doing things together which is nice,” she said.

Although much of this year was spent madly packing and delivering puzzles and board games all over Sydney, Ms Blyton said the pandemic had taken its toll on her business.

“For us, a large part of our business is week-in, week-out birthday parties and during COVID, there was none of that,” she said. “So, that was sort of a shock to the system but the flip side of it is it gave me time to work on our online store.”

Ms Blyton and Ms Arkovits agreed their customers appeared to be more mindful of how and where their toys were made.

“People also seem to want to buy from small businesses, they want to shop locally,” Ms Blyton said. “I think that’s been a result of the pandemic.”

The observation is shared by Beattie Alvarez, who owns and runs Granny Fi’s Toy Cupboard in Armidale in regional NSW with her husband and mother. 

All of the shop’s products are hand-made, an assortment of dragons, elves and other fantasy creatures.

“We like to think of our toys as heirlooms not landfill,” Ms Alvarez said.

She confessed most of her clients “aren’t actually children – they’re grown-up children”. Nevertheless the Christmas rush has started, both online and in-store.

In September, the shop relocated to the main pedestrian mall in the regional town of about 30,000 people. “From that day, it is by far busier than we’ve ever known it in the six years we’ve had the shop,” Ms Alvarez said.

The local community in Armidale were ravaged by drought and bushfires before the pandemic took hold, but Ms Alvarez believes there is a silver lining amid the challenging circumstances.

“In general, it seems people are embracing life and imagination a little more than they have in the past.”