Friday, May 18, 2007 A toy store ‘evolves’ By Ace Matthew Togonon UP Mass Comm Intern
FOR Toys@Work co-owner Christopher Tio, selling toys is more than just a business—it’s a social contribution.
“We don’t really treat Toys@Work as just a business but also a way of doing our part in providing tools for families to interact with one another,” says Tio, 35, and a father of two.
He believes that toys are inanimate objects. But with the right input, they can provide the foundation for children to grow up and become better people.
Driven by the slogan “turning the imagination to reality,” Toys@Work, a personalized retail toy store he started last 2003, continues to distinguish itself from the rest in the market.
Toys@Work started by selling merchandise from six major brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Kiko and Megablocks, which is a modern version of Lego.
Now, it has a store at Ayala Center Cebu and another one at the Banilad Town Center (BTC).
The store sells items not usually found in most department stores, Tio said.
As a toy shop, it also functions as a personal shopper as it tries to give customers the best of branded toys, he added.
“We try to define (our customer’s) choices better. Our staff knows the product better and are able to explain it,” he said.
Toys@work also instituted many firsts in the market, Tio told Sun.Star Cebu.
Using a poly-integrated point of sale system, the store has a database of customers that tracks their purchases.
“We know majority of our customers by name. We can customize really what they want or what they need,” Tio said.
In an effort to stay true to its slogan, Toys@Work banks on the imagination and the right toys that will help children on three things.
It aims to provide an environment for the child to use his imagination and look beyond himself.
Without imagination, a kid is only playing with a piece of metal with wheels, but with the right encouragement to imagination, the kid could become the next Michael Schumacher, Tio said.
Quality time
Toys also encourage interaction with other children and with adults. Tio said growing up in today’s fast-paced society, video-games disrupt a child’s quality time with family and friends. This is the reason why the shop does not sell any of such products.
But Tio said that it is also their aim to make their customers happy.
“It’s really about making the customers happy. In fact, our store hosted a lot of Hot Wheels track races, Battle Bida Man competitions, Barbie tea parties and Barbie fashion shows,” he added.
Toys@Work, a regional partner for Mad Science, a global brand for fun interactive science, also hosts shows, workshop for schools and summer camps that get children interested in science in fun and interactive ways.
Franchising
The toyshop is evolving with the times. Toys@Work Ayala will become Toys@
Work Light, the toyshop’s footprint to get into franchising.
“It’s different. We made it smaller, more compact using modern technology like Phillips CDM lighting, the latest lighting trend used in high end boutiques, to highlight the toys better,” Tio said.
At the end of the year, the toy shop will also open Kids Village, the first retail entertainment theme park for kids with 1,500 square meters of “kidspace” complete with a Fun Zone, a play activity area and a Village Plaza for kiddie events.
Kids Village will feature retail shopping choices from Toys@World toy store.
The proposed shop will be located at Parkmall 168, a new mall under construction beside the Cebu International Convention Center in Man-daue City.
With so many opportunities in Cebu, Tio, also a board member of the Philippine Retailers Association-Cebu Chapter, called on young people to become “providers and not just consumers.”
“In fact, we are small compared to other people, but we believe in what we’re doing. We aspire to be bigger, better and ultimately, we aspire to be the best,” Tio also said.
