Search: Best Sellers | Staff Favorites

Goodbye Longmont, Hello Boulder!

Saturday, 16th of February 2008

The sun shines brightly
On my shiny white backyard
Green will soon be here

What would our world be like without seasons? Even growing up in Florida, where winter was a mere suggestion, I was aware of seasons, of changing patterns in light, temperature, and growth. I've spent my adult life in Colorado and Alaska, where the seasons are dramatic and beautiful. They make me feel so much a part of this earth - a reminder that I am one small piece of a large system that is very connected. Now that Valentine's Day is past, although winter still holds us firmly in her grasp, I know that spring is not that far away.

Now we will start to see robins. Soon we will be able to buy strawberries that have flavor again. And one day, in the next few weeks, I'll be out walking and I'll see, in some spot that gets just a bit more warmth than others, the very first flowers popping out, diminutive species grown from bulbs, here to let us know that the cycle of life is still going on. A college roommate once told me, "Everything always changes. That's how we know we are alive." Although it's a simple statement, it's always struck me as a very profound one. There are times when we mourn change, but it is very much a defining part of our nature.

And so I am writing to let you know that, at the end of business today, February 16, 2008, PlayFair Toys will close the doors of our Twin Peaks Mall location in Longmont, Colorado, and not open them again. And yes, there is some sadness about this. We have staff there who have been with us for years who will be moving on. There are customers who have found in our store a refuge, a place to come with their children, a place filled with wonder and fun. We are glad that we were able to be there for you, in your community, and we enjoyed every one of you.

Yet this is not all sorrow, no, not at all! In fact, this is actually quite good news. Because it means that we can fully focus our attention on our strongest location, our Boulder toy store, and make it even better than ever. Because what we are, what we have always been about, is a destination business. Our Boulder store survived being the only remaining retail business on the Crossroads mall property as it was torn down and redeveloped into 29^th Street. That was not a fun time for us, but it was always heartening to see how our customers found us even when construction made that difficult. In 2007, I began studying the concept of destination business, the idea that there are certain businesses where the phrase "location, location, location" is not the success driver at all, but rather the businesses themselves are so exciting, so unique, that people will seek them out. PlayFair Toys withstood that test, and it made me realize that, instead of trying to expand into multiple locations, I needed to really work on strengthening that uniqueness at our "Flagship" store.

2008 is PlayFair Toys' 26^th year in business in Boulder. The Longmont location was an experiment of sorts. If you've been to Twin Peaks lately, you'll understand that this decision is a necessity for a small, locally-owned business. But the hard times at the mall represent a great opportunity for us and for you, our faithful customers. We have some amazing new plans for 2008 that we're not quite ready to announce, but that will make the store even more intriguing than ever.

Meanwhile - goodbye Twin Peaks, hello Boulder! We are more than worth the drive. And to further entice you to visit, I make this very special offer. Come into our Boulder store, and tell us that you read this blog and want to take advantage of our "Hello Boulder T-shirt deal!". This lets you purchase our unique, cannot-buy-them-anywhere-but-PlayFair, 100% heavyweight cotton t-shirts with the professor's wild and silly grin on the front, for only $8! Yes, only $8 for a cotton shirt, designed and printed right here in Boulder County. These normally sell for $16.95, still a great deal, but we are giving you this special opportunity only through March 15, 2008, as a way of thanking you for reading this and for being a part of our lives. Remember, just say that you want the "Hello Boulder T-shirt deal!". We currently have shirts available in natural fibers with red ink, deep purple with white ink (not coincidentally just perfect for Boulder High School students and families), and deep red with white ink (also not coincidentally just perfect for Fairview High School students and families).

With appreciation,

Marilyn Walker, Owner

Want to leave a comment? We repost Marilyn's Musings on Professor PlayFair's blog.

The Many Sides of Value

Thursday, 29th of March 2007

The word value has been bouncing about in consciousness lately, so much so that I thought I'd share some thoughts about it. Value is a word so bantered about that its meaning has become lost, or at the very least mixed up. We talk about a purchase being a "good value", we talk about "family values", and we talk about "the value of money." The juxtaposition of these various meanings recently struck me as being quite interesting in this day and age. In order to graduate from high school, we had to write a "Values Essay", a statement of what we believed in and why. All these years later, I cannot remember what I wrote, but I can remember that the exercise of writing the essay made me think hard about what values really were. I was recently struck by the word value as it applies to a purchase or a transaction (i.e., the "good value" meaning), and value as it applies to personal beliefs, or what we think is important. These things are not as different as they might at first appear.

PlayFair Toys was founded on a very specific set of values - to offer toys that are nonviolent and that do not encourage gender stereotyping. We recognize that not everyone shares these values - they are very specific. From its somewhat hip-based roots, in a funky Victorian house on Boulder's legendary Pearl Street, the business grew into a national catalog presence with multiple retail locations. But the core values of the business remain the same - we work hard to find wholesome, quality playthings that will help your child grow and develop. We hold strongly to our beliefs that children deserve toys that promote certain values - equality of all people, integrity, imagination, cooperation. It's also very important that we offer you real value in the monetary sense - that you come away from your purchases feeling they were worth your money.

One thing that I like about the word "value" is that it does not equal "cheap". It is sometimes misused in that way, but its core definition means that it was "worth it," whatever the cost was. Our society has moved toward embracing "cheap and plenty" over "value", and I believe that this has led to a loss of value - a loss of quality of life. Our society now often shops in large, impersonal stores where the help knows nothing about the products - they were chosen and negotiated by a buyer in a corporate office a long way away, one whose only goal was maximizing return. Our society shops online on humongous internet sites that don't have a phone number you can call, that strive to offer you every product under the sun, but that have absolutely no mission other than to grow larger and larger each day. We have become detached, and that is a real loss.

As the owner of PlayFair Toys, it's very important to me that our values, my personal values and the company mission, be front and center and at the core of everything we do. I believe that we offer you great value in every sense of the word. Whether you shop here at the website or in our stores, you are buying toys from a company that cares about you and your children. You can talk to us, and we will listen. My challenge to you today is to ask yourself what your own values are, what you care about the most, and to wonder if you are living them. If so, congratulations! If not, maybe it's time to take a break and do the grown-up version of my high school assignment - think about what is most important to you, and then figure out how to live it.

I value my time and yours, so I thank you for the time spent reading this!

Until next time,

Marilyn

Marilyn's Musings

Wednesday, 20th of September 2006

Thoughts from the owner

I am hoping to use this space to do what I have so often fantasized about doing - talk directly to you, my friends and customers, about the issues that I know are important to us as parents, teachers, friends, and citizens. I know that you care deeply about these things, because I hear you say it when you come in. These important topics range from families and parenting to global environmental issues. The world is no simple place.

Perhaps you are wondering how this is all relevant to toy stores and buying toys. I will use this first-ever column to tell you a bit about myself.

Long before I owned a toy business, I was a professor and researcher of ecology. My specialty was in understanding how plants distribute themselves on our landscapes. I mostly worked in the world's coldest environments - the tundra of high mountains and the Arctic. I did truly love the work. I felt emotionally connected to the plants. A lot of my focus as I did that work was in trying to determine what would happen to these very special ecosystems if our climate was changing rapidly, growing warmer. My students and I were seeing some very disturbing trends and evidence that these ecosystems were changing in ways that could alter the course of many lives, including ours.

I left the academic/research world for a multitude of reasons that are too complex and lengthy to get into here. To some degree, I felt that I'd done my best work there and that it was time to move on. I had trained good students who were already becoming leaders in their own right. But mostly, I felt drawn to this world of the toy store. I am a mother as well as a scientist, and my greatest joy in life has been watching my child develop and grow. As much I wanted to have an impact on the greater world, and I still do, I also wanted to make sure that I was having the most significant impact in the arena where it mattered the most - my family and community. Toys and books have always held a prominent place in our lives. But I am starting to give away future columns here, and this is long enough already! Mostly, I want you to know that PlayFair is owned by someone who cares deeply about the earth and the creatures who dwell here. I want this caring to extend into my business and how I run my business. I want you to feel cared for when you shop at PlayFair Toys, because you are.

With fond regards,

Marilyn Walker
President & CEO

SSL