Toni Bennett, owner of Let's Play Something, shoots a dart out of a K'nex toy gun while at her downtown Napavine toy store on Monday afternoon.
Toni Bennett, owner of Let's Play Something, reads off the back of a Truth-or-Dare card game on Monday afternoon at her downtown Napavine toy store.
Toni Bennett, owner of Let's Play Something, looks at a wall she created to resemble snow flakes as a background for when she has Santa Claus visiting later this month.
Toni Bennett, owner of Let's Play Something, adjusts a glow-in-the-dark mini football on one the shelves at her store on Monday afternoon in Napavine.
Dolls stand inside their cases on a shelf at Let's Play Something, a toy store in downtown Napavine, on Monday afternoon.
Toni Bennett, owner of Let's Play Something, shows off an exhibit for Living Sand, a non-toxic, all-natural, sand-type material people can mold into durable shapes while at her downtown Napavine toy store on Monday afternoon.
A sign sits outside of Let's Play Something a new toy store in downtown Napavine on Monday afternoon.
Toni Bennett, owner of Let's Play Something, shows a Star Wars inspired Catch-Phrase game at her store in downtown Napavine on Monday afternoon. Bennett boasts a large collection of toys and games for all ages.
Adam and Toni Bennett are confident their new toy store will be a hit in Napavine.
Not because the business has thrived five years online already.
But because they believe they are offering something the entire community has needed for a long time.
“We love Napavine,” she said. “It's such a family community. They're like our toy store in a town.”
The Bennetts began selling toys online in 2010. Toni had been able to stay home with their two middle children when they were young and then held some part time jobs. When their youngest child turned 3 Toni decided she wanted to come up with a way to be able to stay home once again. She said she considered reselling second-hand items, which many stay-at-home moms do to make extra money, but decided she would rather sell new items.
The couple decided to begin an online toy store because as the parents of four children (at that time aged 19, 8, 7 and 3) they had a pretty good knowledge of what kinds of toys kids wanted.
“First we figured we could get a good deal on them for ourselves but then we figured it would be fun,” Toni said.
The business was started with just $200 Toni had saved from her part time jobs that was used to purchase their business license. A few weeks later when the Bennetts had saved up another $200 they used it to purchase their first case of toys. The Legos quickly sold and they were ready to purchase their next case. Soon, the website was so popular they were able to buy multiple cases at a time. Adam recalled when they first expanded their site they offered 32 items. He still remembers feeling like that was a huge number but now the site lists somewhere in the vicinity of 700-800 individual items.
The Bennetts moved to Napavine about two years ago. They had previously lived in Texas and Florida before moving to Washington to be closer to Adam's mother. They said they instantly fell in love with the area and the small town feel of Napavine.
“We're happy, the kids are happy,” Adam said.
For about a year and a half the couple had wanted to open a brick and mortar store to complement their online store. They had been looking for just the right property for their store but they came up empty handed until they toured the former Napavine City Hall on Second Avenue Toni said they liked that the property included an area with a kitchenette so they could have a private space for their family but also had an upstairs and a downstairs.
“It has the space we can fill now but once we grow we can expand here as well,” Toni said.
The physical store carries more than 1,000 items. The couple recently added a line of baby toys and many of their offerings have an educational focus. But there are also decidedly more adult offerings including the Settlers of Catan series as well as Dr. Who and Walking Dead themed Monopoly or Yahtzee. They said they have their kids help them with deciding on inventory, as well as what sells well on the online store and customer requests.
The Bennetts' kids Kianna, 24, Grant, 13, Collin, 12, and Amanda, 8, are all involved in many aspects of the family business. Most recently, Kianna created the train logo outside the store.
“We just love the community and we're excited to have a store right here,” Toni said.
As a small toy seller, Toni explained they are only able to keep one or two of a particular toy on the shelves at a time. But to help them stay competitive with larger stores, the Bennetts offer free in-store pick up for online purchases if you use the code STORE when checking out. Otherwise shipping from the site is only $3.95 shipping for orders $35 and more. They also offer free gift wrapping year round. While they cannot steeply discount their items like some larger stores do, Toni noted that they keep their profit margins fairly slim so they can offer what they feel are comparable prices.
“We do the best we can to compete with the big stores,” Toni said.
In the near future, the Bennetts intend to add a crafts room at Let’s Play Something where local groups can come in an try out craft materials. The store will also be a drop-off location for Toys for Tots. Specials and give-aways are also planned for Small Business Saturday, which is this coming Saturday Nov. 28.
