I started working at Try & Buy Toy Store in the town over from me when I was a senior in high school. I wanted to work part-time to have a little spending money. One of my friends recommended that I apply at the toy store, and I got the job! Now that I’m at BC, I work there basically every day until Christmas (when I get home from finals). Working at a toy store during the holidays is every bit as hectic as it seems.
From 9-6 for about a week, I am constantly running around the store trying to do ten things at once. One customer needs help finding a gift for her niece, another is wondering if we still have a certain game in stock, another only wants a very particular wrapping paper for her seven gifts…the list goes on and on.
Due to the holiday season, Try & Buy gets new shipments just about every morning. This means that you have to know where everything goes, and you have to put it on the shelf or in the stock room FAST. A cranky customer who can’t find what they’re looking for is not someone you want to deal with.
Try & Buy is unique in that we offer free wrapping services, and it’s not a chain. Our staff is always being complimented on our cheery attitudes and lightning-fast wrapping. Although our store is large and has an infinite number of toys you can buy, our register and wrapping area is a little cramped, so this requires all of us to work together. I am usually delegated to the register because I am super fast with the computer system and I can ring people up like no one’s business.
A little girl’s fantasy!
Wrapping is my favorite part of working at a toy store. There is something very soothing and mindless about wrapping a pile of twenty presents (it’s happened before) while listening to the hustle and bustle of the store and the Christmas music in the background. That’s not to say that I haven’t had some wrapping horror stories. During my first holiday season, a woman looked at the toy I had just wrapped for her and said, “If I knew you were going to wrap it like that, I would have done it myself.” Um, OUCH.
All in all, I have thoroughly enjoyed working at Try & Buy during the holiday season. It is always busy and I love running around helping everyone fulfill his or her holiday needs. And it’s a little extra money so I can buy special gifts for my loved ones! So if you’re ever in Pleasantville, NY during the holidays, come to Try & Buy and I’ll hook you up with some cool toys.
Photo Sources:
http://guidemehome2westchester.com/try-and-buy-toy-store-in-katonah-new-york/