The traditional toy retailer went from ‘clicks to bricks’ over a year ago and the physical store has got off to a flying start, with innovative fittings and crazy marketing ideas. When I Was a Kid owner Paul Warner explains to Lewis Tyler why he feels like a little boy tearing up the retail rulebook
Can you sum up the past 12 months since you last spoke to ToyNews? Where do I start? It’s been the best year of the 43 I have lived. We’ve just applied for the
BTHA Independent Toy Shop of the Year awards and I had to write a piece for that. Life is even busier now. I
have been hands-on seven days a week in the shop – that’s the only way for me to truly understand the behaviour of our customers and how our shop fits into their lives.
You had some ambitious ideas for the store, including a kids’ till, shopping carts and a train suspended from the ceiling. Did you get everything you wanted done? It’s all there plus more, we now have a Pintoy Ride-on Plane circling the ceiling and we have just been joined by Derek. He was a window dummy that now stands proudly making wooden toys. We have also acquired the shop next door, so January sees us expanding, and we have a giant robot with a built-in display planned for this area. Plus there’s loads more toys out of boxes for people to touch, feel and play with.
You’re expanding already? Would you consider opening another shop if growth continued? The shop has really taken off. We’ve had the balls to be a bit different and not get caught up with the Furby fad or Moshi Monster mania, and concentrated on a proper range of traditional toys. This allows us to make an emotional connection with a customer on a totally different level. We had a customer in this week that
82 February
Jam-packed full of all manner of toy products, When I Was a Kid’s store has flourished since it was opened, as originally reported in ToyNews’ February 2012 issue (inset)
saw our Amazing Robot; he last saw that toy when he got it for his birthday at six years old. This year he was 59, he bought one and shook my hand for taking him back to that wonderful day. You can keep your batteries and your gadgets – they just don’t have the same depth. We were also approached
by a shopping courtyard who asked us to open a toy shop, but the timing was a little out. We have a fantastic recipe here, once you’ve made a cake with a recipe that works, you can bake another one or 12.
How have the locals responded to the shop? As a company with a limited budget, we have always tried to blow people away with our customer service, which will always generate great word of mouth referrals. The toy shop is no different, we’ve
just stepped it up another level so the locals are loving us. At least 50 per cent of our footfall are people saying: “I’ve been told about you.” People are travelling in
from Northampton and Corby which is a 20-mile drive, just to see us.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far? I have learned so many things from being on the shop floor that have really helped us propel forward and strengthen the customer experience. It’s such an awesome feeling to be able to make a customer smile, and you only get to see that smile with a proper bricks and mortar shop. So many lessons have stood me in good stead. I read a huge number of books, but the only one that has transformed our thinking and my approach
to retail is a book called Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. It’s all about the customer, doing things that truly wow them, even if they don’t buy something. Think about it, when was the last time you had a wow moment in a shop based upon an experience they created for you?
What tips would you give to online toy retailers considering opening a proper shop? I know it’s an obvious statement but a shop really is staggeringly different from a website. We spent six years doing all the big outdoor shows, with a huge 12-metre marquee. We cracked the whole database segmentation stuff several years ago, and it’s this foundation, together with a dollop of crazy marketing ideas for the shop, that have allowed us to stand out.
Add the wow we create
for the customer and you start to generate the most amazing word of mouth referrals. Be prepared to do all the hard work and learning. I visited more than 30 toy shops over England and Ireland, I involved mums with toddlers, I tried things that left people scratching their heads... who wants to conform? Nobody notices Mr Grey.
Anything else you’d like to add? Great service creates loyal customers who will pay proper prices for proper toys. It’s not all about the clever marketing of toys that have no soul to customers who will only ever buy on price.