Store has grown into a favorite place to shop for gifts during the holidays and throughout the year
Published in the December 11-25 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Staff Report
Photo by Marty Cheek
Anna Gorski and her 4-year-old daughter Noelle Gorski, play with a train set at Thinker Toys.
When children of all ages first step into the Thinker Toys shop in Morgan Hill’s Vineyard Town Center, they’re delighted to discover a magical mercantile where they can find unique playtime items not found in the big box chain stores. Visit Thinker Toys and find toys and games that train your brain and require imagination, not batteries, to bring them to life.
“We focus on educational and classic toys,” said Holly Horner, the store’s manager. “One of the big differences you’ll see here compared with other toy stores is that we don’t separate things into pink and blue aisles. We organize things based on interests. You go into Toys-R-Us, they have a blue aisle that’s supposedly for boy toys, they have pink aisles labeled for girls. We don’t do that. We think toys are simply for kids.”
The original Thinker Toys store was opened in Carmel in 1969. A second store at Monterey’s Del Monte Shopping Center was opened 13 years ago. The Morgan Hill store was opened nearly four years ago, and has grown into a favorite place for local families to shop for gifts during the holidays and other times of the year. Kids and parents stroll through the spacious shop and discover a solid selection of stuffed animals, novelty items, kites, children’s books, a plethora of baby toys, wooden trains and Christmas stocking stuffers. The brands Thomas the Tank and Calico Critters it stocks are immensely popular among patrons. And Thinker Toys recently brought to its shelves a selection of remote-control helicopters, Morgan Hill’s must-have Christmas gift this year.
“We also have a lot of games and puzzles for adults,” Horner said. “We have some strategy games that are more for teenagers and adults that are a real challenge, that take a few hours to complete. We also have a thousand piece, 1,500 piece and a couple of 2,500 piece jigsaw puzzles which are fun for adults. And we have a lot of fidgety toys like the traditional metal puzzles and the rope and hook puzzles that you have to get apart.”
Horner is picky about which toys and games she brings into her shop. “In some ways, I consider myself the editor of the store,” she said. “I go to Toy Fair where there’s three rooms the size of football fields, and I walk through them and decide what thousand items that we’ll put in our store.”
Thinker Toys provides a hands-on shopping experience where kids are encouraged to pick up and make friends with its various toys at play tables set around the store. The store staff focus on making its customers feel relaxed while browsing its aisles and proudly provide “old-fashion customer service,” Horner said. It offers its patrons service options such as personal shopping, free gift-wrapping, and free assembly.
The day after Thanksgiving, Thinker Toys doesn’t do the usual Black Friday mega-sale but creates a party atmosphere for all families to stop by for a visit and enjoy free apple cider and cookies. “We have no door busters, break-an-arm sales,” Horner said. “We encourage families to come in, relax, do some crafts, have a cookie, have a low-stress holiday. We think that shopping for a toy present should be a fun and enjoyable experience.”
The toys parents bring into their youngsters lives can have a significant impact on them, shaping their minds and their futures, Horner believes. That’s why it’s important for her to carefully select the playthings Thinker Toys offers its customers.
“I really think that good toys can really positively impact a child’s development,”she said. “Most of what we learn, we learn through play as small children. Playing with dolls helps kids with mimicking social interactions so that they can be more social. Playing with building blocks helps kids to learn the basics of physics. It’s really cool to provide the sorts of toys and games that can really stimulate kids’ minds.”
