Recommended The Wrong Toy Store!

Winnie is going back to Singapore with her family for the coming Christmas break. Relatives have requested her to purchase a list of things from Melbourne for them. Among the list of many things she had agreed to help them buy were Playmobil and Brio. Apparently toys like Brio, Playmobil and Lego are quite pricey in Singapore. With many people claiming to get good bargains over there, I never expected these toys to be pricier than over here. And knowing that I am quite an ‘expert’ when it comes to this type of things, she asked me where in Melbourne is the best place to get them. I told her that if she was referring to the traditional wooden train sets by Brio, I have not seen them around for quite some time. I have seen plenty of other train sets compatible to Brio though. As for Playmobil, I first suggested that she visits this little toy store located close to where we live. Winnie doesn’t like to travel far from Melbourne city and I thought that this toy store would make it easy for her to get to.

I have recommended this toy store to other friends, relatives and the parents of the girls I look after as well. Not counting the toy departments of various departmental stores, this is a pretty unique one. While the toy departments of the big stores sell pretty much the same type of toys preferred by the masses (e.g. Mattel: Fisher Price, Hot Wheels, Barbie), this particular toy store stocks only brands like Playmobil, Haba, Hama, Brio, Papo and Radio Flyer. These are toy companies known to produce higher quality toys with price tags to match.

I have just started to teach Winnie how to sew lately. She came to my apartment for an informal lesson on Sunday afternoon. She saw the presents I have bought and have yet to wrap, and our conversation turned to her lousy experience at the toy store I recommended. Winnie told me that she dropped by the store to see their range of Playmobil. She went on her own. As it turned out, she had walked pass this store in the past but she had never been inside. She said that she had wanted to visit the store with her son but had now decided to never return to that store again. I asked her what happened. She explained that the shopkeepers followed her around the store from the moment she stepped in. She said that all she wanted was to be left alone to explore the store on her own as this was the first time for her to check out the range of toys that they have. I asked her if she let that be known. She said that she only hinted after being approached for the third time. She told the employee that she will ask for help if she has questions. She told me that she didn’t understand what the fuss was considering that she didn’t even bring along her son. Seeing that the others were heading up to the mezzanine, she followed as two women behind the counter gave her frosty looks. When she came down stairs, she checked out the toys displayed around the counter. She said that she was wondering where the Playmobil were and was about to leave when she spotted them towards the right side of the door. She wanted to have a good look at the range and this included checking out the price but her attempt was blocked by another display. The ladies watched her without coming forward to help at all. Winnie’s hint earlier must have offended them. Then one of them went to help a customer and another customer came over to where Winnie was, to look at the range of Playmobil from behind the other display stand as well. This customer called out to the remaining lady at the counter for a price check of one of the Playmobil sets. She checked and replied courteously. Seeing that the lady was finally helping, Winnie asked also to price check a few items. The lady was frosty and made Winnie feel like she was interrupting but the other customer had already left the store.

I felt sorry that Winnie had such a negative experience. I have been to this store in the past and have purchased items from them. I too find that they can be overtly ‘helpful’ at times but like I have said earlier, this is practically the one and only proper toy store close to us that stocks quality toys. If only we live in a bigger city with more stores stocking more variety to choose from. Sometimes shopkeepers and store owners think that people who dress down do not have the means to shop at their store. Ideally, one should never be judged by how one dresses but in the real world, even this nanny dresses accordingly when planning to go into ‘fussy’ stores, including this particular toy store. Winnie always looks smart whenever she goes out. So, the problem may not be how she was dressed. It might well be another problem that we usually prefer to believe does not exist anymore. Another common belief is that if a customer has to price check an item, then he or she is unlikely to afford that item. This is because it is believed that people who can afford anything and everything will buy an item they fancy regardless of the price. I work for people who are considered to be financially comfortable (more comfortable than me anyway) and I can tell everyone that the belief above is STUPID.

As for her continuing search for Playmobil for her relatives, I have suggested another toy store. I have asked her to find out the exact sets of Playmobil that the relatives want and then give Kinderplay on High Street a call to check the prices. I told her that the last time we bought Playmobil was from Kinderplay and that was a long time ago! We aren’t sure if Kinderplay still stock this brand but we were very happy with their service when we used to shop there. If she would like to visit the shop in person, I also asked her to try another toy store on the same street called Boy and Girl. They too stock good quality toys.