SMYTHS REALLY lives up to the ‘Superstore’ part of its name. The out-of-town store is gigantic. Its aisles stretch as far as I can see. With all this floorspace there is
naturally a larger selection of toys across a full range of price points. There’s also room for video games and mother and baby sections. I walk about in a daze, trying to take in this vast selection, when an attentive lady asks if I need help, breaking away from her shelf restocking duty (a first for today). Della has no hesitation in leading me over to the games. Unsurprisingly, there is plenty to choose from – 50 metres and five rows high to choose from, in fact. Despite this not being her section, Della exhibits great knowledge of the products and her
suggestions are brimming with enthusiasm. Her first offering is Hasbro’s Elefun. “If you can’t find the butterflies, look inside the trunk,” says another passing member of staff (apparently some customers could not find them in the package). Another staffer, Chantelle, is
then drafted in to further aid me in my search for a fitting family game. Now working in tandem, the pair
deliver pithy sales pitches for Twister, Operation, Mattel’s Angry Birds games and Pumpaloon. Sandwiched between Brummy hospitality, I feel incredibly well looked after. Verdict: Best service of the day. Incredible line to rival Toys R Us.
5/5
DEBENHAMS
DEBENHAMS IS host to only a modestly sized toy department. The pillows section adjacent is much bigger. There’s a bit of everything here, with the usual sections for girls, boys, pre-school and so on, as well as a smattering of licensed London 2012 toys, fit for gifting. However, it’s all a bit confused in
the toy area. For a start, the ‘Pretend Play’ section mostly contains outdoor toys, while ‘Pre- school Characters’ contains Barbie Fashionistas dolls. Soft toys is home to a selection of stationery… the list goes on. I approach a store attendant and ask if I could have some help picking out a game, and I am kindly, yet disappointingly, redirected back to the toy section
LOWER MALL, BULLRING
from whence I came without further help. I’m left to amuse myself alone in the games section, which is mostly made up of Hasbro titles, interspersed by the odd product from the likes of Orchard Toys and John Adams. The poor showing is to be expected though; toys are clearly not high on this Debenhams’ list of priorities.
Considering The Entertainer
is practically next door, it’s no wonder the department store’s toy offering is so humble. Verdict: At this time of year, it seems Debenhams has very little time for toys. Still, any toy department is better than no toy department.
2.5/5
TOYTOWN
I AM THE only customer in Toytown. Despite the considerable floorspace and huge range of toys here, it’s very quiet. This concession toy store is on the top floor of Birmingham’s House of Fraser. There is a huge selection, but no clear organisation, which makes it quite difficult to browse. It’s just wall to wall of busy, colourful packaging – maybe a few category signs wouldn’t go amiss? And unfortunately, the banging house music soundtrack – which is presumably piped through to all six floors of House of Fraser – is particularly pronounced here and doesn't fit the children’s
setting. There is, however, a TV
CORPORATION STREET
playing a DVD of Mrs Doubtfire, which manages to inject some more child appropriate fun. I don’t have to ask for help as a cheerful lady called Kusum notices that I am a little overwhelmed by the range and offers assistance. Side-stepping a bucket catching
drips from a leaky ceiling, we make our way to the ample games area. Kusum’s enthusiasm is
infectious and in one minute she suggests over a dozen games. She leaves me to my own devices, encouraging me to look around, find something I like and to just yell if I need any further help. Verdict: A little rough around the edges, Toytown has a great range. Would benefit from some new signage.