Arriving at Providence

I returned last week from Providence, Rhode Island where ASTRA Marketplace, a specialty toy retailer show took place. There I got to meet some toy store owners who are very passionate about what they do. For people who think that it's impossible to run an independent store on passion, when the big box stores own you on price, here's a story told to me by Lis Schwedler, the owner of The Treasured Child, an independent, local toy store in La Grange, Kentucky.

Lis was listening to a local radio station when she heard the story of a local father who took his 4-year-old daughter around town on some errands and upon returning home, discovered that he had somehow lost his daughter's favorite childhood blanket somewhere among the many stops. His daughter, who had her "Mimi" from birth, was beside herself with grief. Desperate to try and find it, the dad retraced his steps, asked the desk clerks at the big box stores where he stopped for their lost and found departments, and rummaged again through the family van, all to no avail. In a last ditch effort to find Mimi, he wrote to the radio station in town in the hope that they'd put out an all-points bulletin. To his surprise, they read his letter on air.

He began by apologizing, saying he knew that, in this economy, there where much more important stories and larger issues for many listeners. He wrote that he wouldn't be the best father he could be to his little girl if he didn't at least try, and so he shared his story and his daughter's heartache. He knew the blanket was a GUND and he described its pattern and color, hoping that someone listening may have seen it. After the letter was read the radio host went on with his show.

It was early in that morning and although her store wasn't supposed to open for several hours, Lis was so struck by what she had just heard on the radio that she went into her store and fired up her computer. She looked up her Gund catalog and started to make some calls. 20 minutes later she had placed an order for a Gund blanket just like Meme. She got a hold of the radio station, who put her in touch with the father

The following week, the father brought his little girl into The Treasured Child on Christmas Eve. The little girl didn't know why they were there until Lis presented her with the a brand new Mimi. It was the look of joy on that child's face that made Lis cry when she told me the story last week. And the story doesn't end there. The radio station aired the story of a stranger's kindness during the hectic holiday season.

In the weeks that followed, Lis was inundated with new customers who came to her store because of the story and her selfless act of kindness. Several customers came from as far away as Cincinnati. This is the passion (business modelers would call it "service") that sets a local, independent toy store apart.

I am happy to play a small part in the larger play of treasuring every child. I've been in the toy business for 21 years and although I don't feel like I've arrived, I certainly feel like I am where I am supposed to be.