Comments on: Mom and Pop toy shops need our support

By: John-Paul

John-Paul — Thu, 06 May 2010 19:55:38 +0000

Don’t forget about Nest Toy Store in Ottawa! It is on the north end of the ByWard Market.

By: Amelia Sprout

Amelia Sprout — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:37:53 +0000

We made a commitment to shop only local on Black Friday, and stuck with it three of three of the five local toy stores (not even counting great book stores). It was a great feeling knowing I was supporting local businesses.

By: Elyse

Elyse — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:12:05 +0000

And for those of you who want to shop online, visit http://www.etsy.com for all sorts of great handmade items!

By: Bay Area Discovery Museum

Bay Area Discovery Museum — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:12:29 +0000

You might also check out your local children’s museum – I’ll put in a plug for our store (click our link) – but many children’s museums have GREAT toy stores, often featuring cool educational but fun toys! Boston Children’s Museum even has an awesome Recycle Store where you can buy cool stuff in bulk, like reusable fabrics, plastics, papers, and strings…

By: Tegan and Tage

Tegan and Tage — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:38:40 +0000

GREAT reminder. So important to shop locally in general but there are so many super finds during the holidays! This would be a fun feature to do regularly (like your 5 Things to Do) for different cities.

By: Caroline

Caroline — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:19:57 +0000

We support our local consignment stores here in Ottawa before buying big box store stuff for our son. Our local boutique toy shoppes and baby stores are very expensive places to go and we cannot afford a lot of their merchandise.

We have a lot of consignment stores to choose from, one called Boomerang Kids, another called Belly Laughs! We are very fortunate to have a wide selection, and shopping there a great way to save $$ on gently used toys and clothes.

By: Lauren @ HoboMama.com

Lauren @ HoboMama.com — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:42:31 +0000

Love that mobile! I loved exploring our local shops at our community trick or treat this year. I’ll have to get back there for shopping!

By: Christine

Christine — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:45:22 +0000

I totally agree with you. There are some great independent stores here in Ottawa Canada: Fab Baby Gear, Red Chair Kids, and 3 Monkeys. In Toronto Kol Kids has also has an amazing selection of toys and clothes.

By: RookieMom Heather

RookieMom Heather — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:49:26 +0000

I pledged to buy locally last year and was pretty successful. I will join you. For toys, might I also suggest the Berkeley Ecology Center for the greenest and localest stuff (near Dwight and Ashby) and 5 Little Monkeys (but that may be way far away in Albany!)

By: VDog

VDog — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:25:58 +0000

This Little Piggy closed on 4th Street.

Don’t forget physical retailers like Mr. Mopps (MLK/Rose) and Five Little Monkeys on lower Solano.

By: Sonja

Sonja — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 00:59:20 +0000

Yes, great reminder! I just went into our local independent toy store for the first time, and I was blown away! It was seriously the coolest, ever! I found so many cool things Target will never, ever carry… WIN!!!
Check out http://www.the350project.net/home.html – It’s a really cool concept that helps people shop local.