A store for all seasons

Building one successful toy venue is no easy feat...but two? That's hardly child's play. Nevertheless, by creating a pair of complementary venues, longtime friends Tom Brown and Ed Roberts established destinations that drive revenues all year round.

The co-owners of zoinks! a wicked cool toy store—in Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace and Providence's Providence Place Mall—joined forces after Roberts, who ran a push cart in Faneuil Hall, learned that Disney and Warner Bros. would not be renewing their leases. The duo saw an opportunity for, as Brown puts it, "a cool new independent toy store," which they opened in October 2001.

The original 1,500-square-foot zoinks! was conceived as a concept store, explains Brown. He says it features about 80 percent "toys that are off the beaten track and promote local companies," like Kid Galaxy of Manchester, N.H., and Stoughton, Mass.-based Franklin Sports. "We wanted to offer what we thought was missing in retail," he adds.

This premise was such a hit with consumers, Brown and Roberts sought to introduce zoinks! to a whole new terrain. A Boston area comic book retailer told them about his other store in the newly opened Providence Place Mall, which piqued their interest. The potential for a second store in an entirely different retail environment fostered a balanced profit source.

"In the Faneuil Hall location, 35-40 percent of our business comes in the June to August period because it's an outdoor marketplace," Brown tells PLAYTHINGS. "We wanted to have good foot traffic in the summer—which is typically dormant in the toy industry—and not rely on just the holiday season.

"When we looked at the mall possibility, we knew we had to have 20 percent of our in-take in summer," he continues. With this business plan in mind, Brown and Roberts secured a 10,000-square-foot space in the mall and opened their second store this past June. "When it rains, the Providence Place location is packed and when it's beautiful out, the Faneuil Hall store does well," says Brown.

zoinks!'s growth enabled Brown and Roberts to take a closer look at how they could go about enhancing their flagship location. A 1,000-square foot arcade—both co-owners are admitted avid videogamers—and arts and crafts studio inspired the duo to duplicate these efforts in the Faneuil Hall venue.

While the studio mainly serves as a haven for young children's birthday parties, zoinks! has made a conscious effort to appeal to teenage boys, too. "We noticed they love music, so we began carrying CDs of local artists," says Roberts.

But kids aren't the only customers to which zoinks! pays attention. After hours, the store shuts down and hosts singles' night events. "We align ourselves with a local restaurant that provides cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, crank up the music and allow folks to come in and mingle," explains Roberts.

One might wonder what this type of event has to do with the business of selling toys. "There's lots of aunts and uncles out there, and when it's time for them to think about buying a gift for their niece or nephew, they'll hopefully remember zoinks!," adds Roberts.