Saturday, November 13th is Neighborhood Toy Store Day – a day to celebrate the wonders and delight of your neighborhood independent toy stores.

The genesis for this day comes from the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA).

Yes, it is a contrived celebration, not unlike the Hallmark holidays like Bosses Day and Sweetest Day. Yes, it is a marketing ploy designed to get shoppers into these local toy stores ahead of the Black Friday fiascoes. And yes, it is a lot of work for these toy retailers to plan activities, run promotions, and market themselves.

There are pretty much three responses from toy store owners on events like this:

1. Some are going to ignore it and decide it isn’t worth the effort. They figure it won’t move the needle much and won’t be around for long so they won’t get sucked into the hype.
2. Some are going to go half-ass and do just enough to say, “Yeah, I did something, but it didn’t work out for me.”
3. Some are going to embrace it fully, plan wonderful events, inspire their staff to get excited about it, inspire their customers with their own creativity, and make this one of the most special days of the year.

Which of the three do you think will reap the most benefits?

The big difference is PASSION. When you show passion in your business, those around you cannot help but be sucked in by it. Your staff will mirror it. Your customers will embrace it. And your sales will show it.

So embrace those moments where you can let your passion for business shine through. If your industry creates a special holiday, put some passion into celebrating it. Your customers will notice and react accordingly.

-Phil

PS We are celebrating in style on the 13th with one of the biggest Playmobil Play Days we’ve ever had! The staff is excited. The buzz is building. Yeah, it’s going to be an awesome day!