(March 23, 2017) World of Toys owner Olga Kozhevnikova is so eager to move into her store’s new location across the street in Berlin that she’s been making plans in her sleep.
“I’m excited,” she said. “I wake up and in my head I’m building walls and setting inventory. I’ve also been doing drawings. I think it’s going to be amazing to put it all on the shelf and organize everything.”
Last week she received the keys to the former Toy Town building on 115 North Main Street. Soon, she’ll start the process of moving the stock from her cramped little store on 110 North Main Street into the much larger space of roughly 4,800 square feet.
She’s ordered new shelving, hired an electrician and plans to change the lighting and improve the heating and air conditioning systems. The interior will receive a new coat of paint in her favorite color, green.
Kozhevnikova will keep the old store running through the April 15 Spring Celebration. She hopes to reopen before May.
“I want to keep this open for the Spring Celebration so the kids can come and choose the toys. We’re probably going to lose a week because we have to move all of the shelving from here over there, with inventory,” she said. “But everything looks good. We built tons of new orders.”
She said the new location would allow her to offer a larger variety of items, as well as increase the space for her customers.
“Space was the biggest issue in here. When there was a busy day, it was hard to shop – it was hard to move around,” she said.
The new location will also have more out-of-box items for kids to play with. She has already secured sets of magnetic building blocks from Magformers, a pirate treasure chest filled with items from Green Toys and a second train table from Hape Toys.
“One of my companies that I put in a big order with [last Wednesday] are giving me $150 worth of dolls for the girls to play with in the store,” Kozhevnikova said. “We’re going to set up a play area for the kids.
“The kids come in and they’re not interested in looking at the packaging – they want to play,” she added.
One thing Kozhevnikova does not want to do is change the philosophy of World of Toys. The stock, while increasing across the board, will still consist mostly of unique educational toys, puzzles, games, books, dolls and stuffed animals.
Kozhevnikova said she makes it a point not to stock mass-market items that are readily available in larger chain stores, like WalMart. Her “Thomas and Friends” wooden train sets, for instance, are exclusive to smaller shops.
“I think if you choose and pick the products for your store and go with good brands – you don’t just look into what’s popular this second, but just bring in a lot of classic toys that kids can play with and interact – I think that’s the key,” she said. “Even some mass market companies, like Mattel or Fisher Price, if we bring some products by them it’s only a specialty toy store line – not mass market buys.”
The other major thing she wants to maintain is the customer service. Because Kozhevnikova attends the toy fairs and places all the orders herself, she knows the ins and outs of virtually every item in the store.
“If someone is looking for my assistance, my help, my opinion, my suggestion, I will be available,” she said. “The customer service is so important. In a lot of big shops, you don’t get the customer service. You can’t come in and ask, for instance, what do you recommend for a 2-year-old?”
On March 14, Kozhevnikova posted on Facebook that she had received the keys and included a photo of the “coming soon” banner she placed in the window of the new space.
“Over 3,000 people have seen my post and there’s tons of ‘likes,’ tons of shares, tons of new ‘likes’ for my page. There were tons of very good comments and tons of support,” she said. “People are very excited to see the new shop. I think the move will go very smooth for us.”
Kozhevnikova is planning a soft opening in late April, followed by some kind of fanfare during a grand opening, likely in May. To stay up to date on the move and all the happenings at World of Toys, visit www.facebook.com/worldoftoyd2012 or call 410-641-0601.
“I’m excited,” she said. “I wake up and in my head I’m building walls and setting inventory. I’ve also been doing drawings. I think it’s going to be amazing to put it all on the shelf and organize everything.”
Last week she received the keys to the former Toy Town building on 115 North Main Street. Soon, she’ll start the process of moving the stock from her cramped little store on 110 North Main Street into the much larger space of roughly 4,800 square feet.
She’s ordered new shelving, hired an electrician and plans to change the lighting and improve the heating and air conditioning systems. The interior will receive a new coat of paint in her favorite color, green.
Kozhevnikova will keep the old store running through the April 15 Spring Celebration. She hopes to reopen before May.
“I want to keep this open for the Spring Celebration so the kids can come and choose the toys. We’re probably going to lose a week because we have to move all of the shelving from here over there, with inventory,” she said. “But everything looks good. We built tons of new orders.”
She said the new location would allow her to offer a larger variety of items, as well as increase the space for her customers.
“Space was the biggest issue in here. When there was a busy day, it was hard to shop – it was hard to move around,” she said.
The new location will also have more out-of-box items for kids to play with. She has already secured sets of magnetic building blocks from Magformers, a pirate treasure chest filled with items from Green Toys and a second train table from Hape Toys.
“One of my companies that I put in a big order with [last Wednesday] are giving me $150 worth of dolls for the girls to play with in the store,” Kozhevnikova said. “We’re going to set up a play area for the kids.
“The kids come in and they’re not interested in looking at the packaging – they want to play,” she added.
One thing Kozhevnikova does not want to do is change the philosophy of World of Toys. The stock, while increasing across the board, will still consist mostly of unique educational toys, puzzles, games, books, dolls and stuffed animals.
Kozhevnikova said she makes it a point not to stock mass-market items that are readily available in larger chain stores, like WalMart. Her “Thomas and Friends” wooden train sets, for instance, are exclusive to smaller shops.
“I think if you choose and pick the products for your store and go with good brands – you don’t just look into what’s popular this second, but just bring in a lot of classic toys that kids can play with and interact – I think that’s the key,” she said. “Even some mass market companies, like Mattel or Fisher Price, if we bring some products by them it’s only a specialty toy store line – not mass market buys.”
The other major thing she wants to maintain is the customer service. Because Kozhevnikova attends the toy fairs and places all the orders herself, she knows the ins and outs of virtually every item in the store.
“If someone is looking for my assistance, my help, my opinion, my suggestion, I will be available,” she said. “The customer service is so important. In a lot of big shops, you don’t get the customer service. You can’t come in and ask, for instance, what do you recommend for a 2-year-old?”
On March 14, Kozhevnikova posted on Facebook that she had received the keys and included a photo of the “coming soon” banner she placed in the window of the new space.
“Over 3,000 people have seen my post and there’s tons of ‘likes,’ tons of shares, tons of new ‘likes’ for my page. There were tons of very good comments and tons of support,” she said. “People are very excited to see the new shop. I think the move will go very smooth for us.”
Kozhevnikova is planning a soft opening in late April, followed by some kind of fanfare during a grand opening, likely in May. To stay up to date on the move and all the happenings at World of Toys, visit www.facebook.com/worldoftoyd2012 or call 410-641-0601.