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| ABC News image “Shop Local” is a vital philosophy when it comes to our purchasing choices. But what about where products are manufactured? In these tenuous economic times, buying products made in the USA, maybe even in your own state or hometown, is a great way to help give our economy a boost and help create jobs this holiday season. ABC News has been running a great “Made in America”series all year, culminating with a “Made in America Christmas.” According to the interviews with economists that ABC news conducted as part of that series, if every American pledged to spend $64 on products made in the U.S.A. we could create 200,000 jobs – right now! At Grandrabbit’s Toy Shoppe we are proud to carry many products that are made in America. Here’s a sampling of several products and companies to consider putting on your list when you’re doing your holiday shopping. Make sure to ask a Grandrabbit’s associate for any questions you may have about finding toys made in the U.S.A.! Made in the USA Toy Companies We Carry Aerobi Block-n-Roll Clementine Art Constructive Eating Do-a-Dot Art Fractiles Gamewright Green Toys I-Spy Books and Games Keva Planks Knex Late for the Sky Games Lunastix Mama K’s Mighty Mind Perler Beads Zome Tool Products Made in the USA Astronaut Food Brainquest Workbooks Boomaphone Whack Pack Bubblegum Factory Kit by Scientific Explorer Carson Delosa Home Workbooks Herd Your Horses! Game Ice Cream Kit by Scientific Explorer Illustory Light Crystal Prism Name Train Letters and Cars Melissa and Doug Drawing Pads and Construction Paper Mentos Geyser Tube Mindware Coloring Books Potato Chip Science Sassafrass Fairy Princess Cookie Kit Slinky Spooner Board Sun-Art Paper Tasty Science Kit by Scientific Explorer Trunki by Melissa and Doug Uno Card Game Wikki Stix Yo Baby Kick Flipper Yomega Raider Yo Yo Zipfy Freestyle Mini Luge |
Friday, December 16, 2011
Shop Made in America Toys for the Holidays
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Our Favorite Advent Calendars for 2011
The daily ritual of opening the doors and counting down to the holiday is exciting for both children and parents alike. There are a myriad of Advent calendar options out there, but here are some of our tried-and-true favorites at Grandrabbit's.
PLAYMOBIL puts out a fun series of Advent calendars. With themes such as Dinosaur Expedition, Dragon's Land and Pony Ranch, there are a wide variety of unique themes to chose from. For more a more traditional Christmas motif, they also have a cute Christmas Post Office calendar. No matter which one you choose, each PLAYMOBIL calendar comes with 24 unique figures and accessories, as well as a backdrop. A great choice for PLAYMOBIL fans, that they can play with long after advent is over.
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LEGO makes a cool advent calendar every year, and this year is no exception. The LEGO City Advent Calendar features 24 LEGO toys for your children to build and play with each day leading up to Christmas. The toys can be added to other LEGO sets, making the "build-up" to Christmas extra fun!
Everyone likes chocolate, right? Well Madelaine Chocolate Company makes tasty and traditional Advent calendars. Their Santa's Toy Factory and Village Toy Shop calendars. feature a different chocolate treat every day. Yummy!
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You can come check out all these calendars at any of our three locations or order them online from grtoys.com. Happy Holidays from Grandrabbit's!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Grandrabbit's is proud to be a part of The 3/50 Project!
Grandrabbit's is proud and excited to be a supporter of The 3/50 Project, aimed at bolstering local economies.
Here's some history on the project and how it works:
Having been an independent stationery store owner for fourteen years, Cinda Baxter understood the pain felt by retailers when the economy sank and consumers held back. What began as an economic downturn in the autumn had become a psychological tsunami by March 1st.
What the country needed, in her opinion, was a meeting of the minds between two groups that held valuable stakes in the game—small business owners and members of their communities.
Enter The 3/50 Project.
With a tag line “Save your local economy three stores at a time,” the Project’s goal is to promote shopping in locally owned businesses while thanking customers for the positive impact that decision has on a local economy.
“We’re constantly inundated with doom and gloom,” says Baxter, now a retail consultant and professional speaker. “The system is broken, the banks are frozen, the economy is bleeding. That’s all we hear. The images painted by the media are ghastly and devoid of hope. What we need - what we crave - as a nation is to pinpoint areas where positive change can occur, then feel good about having promoted them."
By early March, she’d decided enough was enough, and that it was time to give retailers ammunition to fight back with. Rather than get tangled in complex messaging and deployment, Baxter combined a straightforward theme, a free flyer, and her blog as the mechanism to launch The 3/50 Project.
“We ask consumers to think about which three stores they’d miss if they disappeared, then remind them to return there,” explains Baxter. “Shoppers have become so rooted in thinking about the essentials that they’ve forgotten about the little gift store on the corner whose owner remembers their name.”
“Fifty comes from the idea that if even half the employed population spent a mere $50 per month in locally owned retail stores, those purchases would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue,” she continues. “That’s a huge impact for a relatively small investment.”
Which leads to a third number on the flyer, sixty-eight—the dollar amount that remains in a community’s economy for every $100 spent in locally owned stores. By contrast, only $43 per one hundred remains local when spent in national chains; little or no revenue results from online purchases.
“In essence, the whole thing boils down to Pick 3, spend 50, save the economy. It’s really that simple."
The year, The 3/50 Project launched their free iPhone app. It's called LookLocal and it allows users to search for locally owned businesses coast to coast, and share their favorite businesses with their friends. You can learn more and download the app here.
For more information and to find out how you can become a supporter visit their website at the350project.net
Building Good Parent-Teacher Relationships
It's back to school time! Parenting.com has some great tips on how to develop a good parent-teacher relationship. Help support your children's hardworking teachers by learning about what pet peeves to avoid, what you can do to score some major brownie points and what you can do at home as a parent. to make a teacher's life easier.
Read the article here, and think back on all the teachers who inspired you as a child!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Bananagrams Featured on NPR's Morning Edition
We love Bananagrams at Grandrabbit's. This super fun and fast-paced anagram puzzle game is one of our best sellers, one we are always eager to recommend to folks looking for a new game.
In case you missed it, last week NPR's Morning Edition ran a great story on the founding and success of Bananagrams:
Adrienne Appell, spokeswoman for the Toy Industry Association, says she thinks Bananagrams will continue to flourish, citing its mass appeal.
"Bananagrams is really turning into a classic game," she says. "Although it was only introduced in the last couple of years, it's really starting to have that stature of a long-lasting game that we envision will be played by generations of kids to come."Check out the full story here, and make sure to stop into Grandrabbit's to pick up Bananagrams!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
August Play Days
JOIN US FOR PLAY DAYS AT ALL THREE OF OUR LOCATIONS!
Designed for children ages 2-7 and an accompanying adult, each Play Day focuses on a different theme, with engaging stories, creative crafts, exciting science experiments and fun games. Add some play time this August at Grandrabbit's!
ORCHARD TOWN CENTER - MONDAYS AT 11
August 1
Green Scene - Celebrate the color of summer. Make a veggie magic print!
August 8
Twirl and Swirl - Create tie dye art to wear using all of the colors of the rainbow.
August 15
Scientrific! - Experiment with some concoctions that are sure to make you laugh.
BOULDER - TUESDAYS AT 10:30
August 2
Green Scene - Celebrate the color of summer. Make a veggie magic print!
August 9
Twirl and Swirl - Create tie dye art to wear using all of the colors of the rainbow.
August 16
Scientrific! - Experiment with some concoctions that are sure to make you laugh!
FLATIRONS - THURSDAYS AT 10:30
August 4
Green Scene - Celebrate the color of summer. Make a veggie magic print!
August 11
Twirl and Swirl - Create tie dye art to wear using all of the colors of the rainbow.
August 18
Scientrific! - Experiment with some concoctions that are sure to make you laugh.
We will take a Play Days break August 22nd through 31st for back to school time!
Monday, July 25, 2011
ASTRA announces it's 2011 Best Toys for Kids
The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) unveiled its 2011 Best Toys for Kids list this month. The list, which includes twenty-two winning products in twelve categories, is a well-balanced representation of the fun, top-quality, high play value products consumers can find in locally-owned neighborhood toy stores around the country.
"There are lots of top toy lists out there, but Best Toys for Kids is different because the collective expertise of ASTRA retailers nationwide is built into the selection process," notes Gwen Ottenberg, Chair of ASTRA’s Best Toys for Kids Committee and owner of Imagine That Toys in Wichita, Kansas. "Hundreds of retailers who know toys inside out participate in picking the winners. The final list is a useful tool at retail for helping moms and dads and grandparents and other buyers understand the advantages of shopping at a specialty store."
You can view all the winners here!
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