(this is in response to Ron's message which refers to the news article in Cambridgeday.com, in case I accidentally hit the "reply" button from the wrong area again).
I don't understand the business model of this store. I don't have kids, and I've never been there, so I have no idea. How do they make money if they don't sell toys? Here's what I can glean from the article and the owner's letter above: it appears they have toys to sell. They also have samples of those toys available for babies/toddlers to play with. This is the same model that I've seen in many toy/game stores: they give people a sample to examine, maybe even play using the sample, and if the customer decides it's something they want to buy, they buy a new copy, leaving the sample for the next potential customer to examine.
I understand they had paid events. I don't know anything about these events. Did the parents rent out the area so their (and selected other invited children) can have exclusive use of the toys for a half hour or so? Or was this more of a day care facility, where parents could drop off their kids and go shopping in Davis Square, with the parents paying the store to babysit the children, allowing them to play with the toys? Or did they charge for playing with the toys, with the explanation that it costs money to sterilize the toys (baby drool, germs, etc) between usages?
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Date: 2012-05-31 07:20 pm (UTC)I don't understand the business model of this store. I don't have kids, and I've never been there, so I have no idea. How do they make money if they don't sell toys? Here's what I can glean from the article and the owner's letter above: it appears they have toys to sell. They also have samples of those toys available for babies/toddlers to play with. This is the same model that I've seen in many toy/game stores: they give people a sample to examine, maybe even play using the sample, and if the customer decides it's something they want to buy, they buy a new copy, leaving the sample for the next potential customer to examine.
I understand they had paid events. I don't know anything about these events. Did the parents rent out the area so their (and selected other invited children) can have exclusive use of the toys for a half hour or so? Or was this more of a day care facility, where parents could drop off their kids and go shopping in Davis Square, with the parents paying the store to babysit the children, allowing them to play with the toys? Or did they charge for playing with the toys, with the explanation that it costs money to sterilize the toys (baby drool, germs, etc) between usages?