Wednesday, November 19, 2008
CPSC idiot proofing
#1: Lawn Darts - Nothing like a metal spike in your head to cement friendship.
#2: The Atomic Energy Lab - complete with Geiger-counter and Uranium bearing ore -
#3: Mini Hammocks that can strangle your children to death.
#4: The Snacktime Cabbage Patch Doll, capable of eating carrots, ponytails or fingers with gay abandon and probably inspiration for the “Chucky” horror movies.
#5: The Skydancer Barbie Rocket - guaranteed to leap from her perch and slice your eyes out.
#6: the Bat Masterson Derringer Belt Gun - because flaming gunpowder near your testicles is a good thing.
#7: The Creepy Crawly Stove-top Goop - toxic and hundreds of degrees in temperature, great to throw at your sister.
#8: The Johnny Reb, 30-inch “authentic civil war” cannon - complete with cannon balls, ramrod and civil war flag - my personal favourite due to the embedded youtube video advert from the early 60’s
#9: The Battlestar Galactica Missile Launcher - missing eyes, torn intestines - cylon love all round.
#10: The Fisher Price Power Wheels Motorcycle - replete with sticking accelerator pedal, guaranteed break-neck Christmas morning fun.
I think recently I would add Aquadots, the SpinMaster product that would create a date rape drug affect in your child if he or she put them in their mouth.
All in all I'd have to say that I trust that intelligent parents are going to know a dangerous toy when they see it, (and sometimes decide that the benefits outweigh the risks). I also believe that no amount of labeling will protect the child of a careless parent, and that sometimes even careful parents find that circumstances conspire to the worst end, again not something that can be prevented by a label. Now I think I'll take my ten year old and go jump on the trampoline.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Live Local, be Local, Buy Local
As many of you know, I am a rabid supporter of local business. I believe that the face of McMinnville would be very drab indeed if local businesses closed and left us all to wallow in the gluttonous mediocrity of the big box offerings. Independent businesses are an important part of the fabric of community that national chains can never be. They are organic growing things constantly responding to the trends and desires of their local community, and in this are a reflection of that
community. Well, I could go on and on, but I do have a point. Last night, we had a party. A party to celebrate all things local. Local music, local businesses, local supporters of business, local non-profits, all strands in the web. There were about twenty local businesses presenting their holiday offerings. There were six tables laden heavy with coupons, catalogs, and samples of goods and services available at these businesses, and many were there collecting the coupons that were out. hopscotch was there of course, and Third Street Books, Movietime video, Found Objects, and Value Pages. I mention these businesses in particular, because we all worked very hard to put this event together. We are step by step, event by event working to develop a strong sense of buy local pride in McMinnville. One window cling at a time we are getting the job done. I was asked today what our mission statement would be if we had one, and I said to support and promote locally owned businesses, and in so doing support the strength and individuality of McMinnville. Even if my business failed it would still be a passion of mine, because community is a passion of mine. Local business creates, supports, and responds to local community. Well, blah blah blah, it was a great night, and with any luck, the ball will keep rolling, the ripples will spread, and Wal Mart will go up in a ball of flames. That would be very pretty to see.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Restoration, Mending, and Maintaining
Friday, November 7, 2008
Toy Store Owners Rule!!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Princess Grace....our store kitty
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Hopeful about our economy
I am hearing the sentiment voiced over and over again that we need to fortify our local economy through keeping our dollars local. This comes not from my fellow shop keeps, but from our customers. There is finally a realization that maybe, just maybe the big boxes are really not the answer. At first, I was worried that the fear of less money would make people rush headlong to the "Lowest Price" sale signs of the big boxes, but the opposite has seemed to be true. People get it. If 3rd street were to fall, livability in McMinnville would be greatly reduced. The influx of new residents, new tax dollars, and new industries would be affected. Schools would suffer from the loss of tax revenue, and subsequent to all of these things housing prices would take a huge hit. If Wal Mart closed, would our property values be adversely affected at all? For the first time, I hear others speaking of these issues that have been near and dear to my heart since my parents made their living in their small shop in 3rd street. I don't feel so weird and backwards in my thought processes anymore. All these years I've been on the cutting edge of yesterday!
All of these new awareness's have the potential to have a huge impact on our environment as well. What if we all went down to Boersma's and invested in a $300 vacuum cleaner that we could have serviced rather than throwing several of the $50 big box vacuums into the landfill when they crash and burn? Ummm, maybe they wouldn't need a dump expansion... oh yeah, that's Portland's dead vacuums they need to expand for. But I digress.
Frugality and cheapness are not the same thing. Frugality is a mindset wherein you keep track of your assets. You manage them. You place your money where it will give you the most return, where it will be serviceable as an asset in your home, and you will not have to replace it over and over and over again. Cheapness, is spending a little and getting less over and over and over until there is nothing but a big pile of broken plastic parts and McDonald's wrappers to reconcile at the end of the month. I see our population moving away from the cheap and toward the frugal, and that means a better quality of life for us all. Yes, I am very hopeful indeed.
A Toy Expert
I find the concept of "Expert" an interesting one. I remember my first day at hopscotch when a customer asked me for a recommendation. She thought I was the expert. I was the Toy Store Owner, of course she thought I was an expert! I felt like such a phony showing her the things I liked, things my children liked, and explaining the why's as I perceived them. That first week I made many recommendations to customers. I recommended the Darda track because of my memories of my own son playing with the track at Kids at Heart in Portland, his desire brimming over, and the birthday on which he received it. Oh, the glorious day! I recommended Gertie balls for children who had developmental challenges and for two year olds. I did this because I had purchased one for my daughter as an impulse buy at Child's Play in Northwest Portland when she was about two. That ball was in and out of diaper bags, chewed on, washed off, inflated, deflated, and always easy for Zoe to catch, so I recommended it. But I was just a mother, not an expert, and felt like a complete poser! I didn't fully appreciate the value of my own accumulated knowledge. I had been a homeschooling mother of three for 12 years at that point. I had purchased countless birthday gifts, seen what worked, what broke, what the kids loved IN SPITE of it breaking... Balsa Wood Airplanes come to mind. Now, five years down the road I have made recommendations for THOUSANDS of gifts. I have read many books, gone to more trade shows than I would like, been mentored by many members of the American Specialty Toy Retailers Association (ASTRA) some of whom have decades of expereince in the toy industry. I have squeezed, pushed, pulled, and ridden some of the craziest most wonderful inventions in the known universe. I have written "body organ slime $2.50" in big letters and my best handwriting.
I am a Toy Expert. I'm afraid to date, the position does not come with a cape, but I do get to wear a great apron complete with scissors, sharpies, and a box knife. With that and my trusty price gun I am quite a well equipped superhero indeed. So now, I've amassed enough information that I think that I have a lot of useful things to say, about toys, children, and life in general. Welcome to the hopscotch blog.