Customers grow with State College toy shop

Growing Tree Toys is a year-round wonderland for children.

Owner Kay Emigh sets up her shop for toys to fill every crevice of the downtown State College space.

It’s a business, Emigh said, that is based on having fun. She also feels it’s a business that helps kids learn.

“Pretty much all toys are learning tools,” she said.

Emigh discussed how she opened the store, the challenges in retail and how, no matter how much some toys change, the basics will always be the same.

Q: You opened the store about 30 years ago, right?

A: We’ve owned the store for 33 years, and before us it was a gift store with a few toys. Before that, and I don’t remember the exact year, a college couple opened it as a bookstore. During the Arts Festival, I met a man who was thrilled to be introduced to me. His mother owned a candy store in the room where the register was. The candy store used to be a pet store, so everything has gone through a lot of transitions.

Q: What was the inspiration behind the store?

A: My neighbor came to the door one night, and she owned the gift store. She wanted to know if I’d be interested in buying it. I had been in other stores like mine that had nice toys and things that were different than what the mass market had, and books — lots of books. I decided to try it for a year. I taught and did the store. I decided I really liked this and retired from teaching.

Q: Did your own kids enjoy growing up in the store?

A: Yes, definitely in the beginning. Of course, when they got into high school they helped gift-wrap. When we decided to computerize, our daughter, Jennifer, entered everything in the store into the computer. Our son, Jon, did all of our Internet things and my husband, Larry, helps with storage and drives things back and forth. It’s always been a part of a family.

Q: Part of the store’s reputation is that you make learning fun, right?

A: To kids, learning is fun. The big thing I think that people in our industry believe is that play is children’s work. Children also learn through play. In fact, I belong to a national organization called American Specialty Toy Retailing Association. There are a lot of people like me who used to teach and decided they wanted better toys for their children. So, we are always on the hunt for things that aren’t mass and that are more meaningful. That doesn’t mean they aren’t fun. They can still be a lot of fun, but they can be better quality and more thoughtful. You can give a child almost anything, and they’ll play with it. We just like it to be fun and meaningful.

Q: Could you give me an example of a toy that is fun and a learning tool?

A: Pretty much all toys are learning tools. When they build they learn to think visually about how things are made and how are things get put together. We don’t say, “Oh, you’re going to learn this today.” Kids are almost always learning when they play, but we want to make sure that that’s meaningful.

Q: I imagine some of your regular customers once upon a time picked out toys for their children and still come back. Have you gotten to build a lot of those relationships?

A: Actually some of them are grandparents now. I’m a grandparent, now, too. My kids were 3 and 7 when I bought the store. A lot of customers have come back and say how much fun it is to be a grandparent. They’re just ecstatic about buying things for their grandchildren, and some look for the old things they bought here. So, yeah, it is really fun. When I first bought the store my students would come in, and then when they grew up and had kids they would come in. That was fun, too.

Q: How have toys changed the last few decades?

A: There are always the basic toys — the box, the balls, the imaginative play. Different departments change each year, though. Now, we’re selling more games than we used to. Science is huge. The science companies have gotten more sophisticated and have made stuff look cooler. That invites the parents and the kids to want to do it. It’s our community, too, because we’re in such an educated population that science appeals to our audience.

Q: What are some difficult things you handle in retail?

A: The downtown construction has been a challenge.

Businesswise, I guess finding new things. I try to go to a lot of shows. In January I’ll go to Atlanta. I’ve gone to Dallas and New York. I’ve been to France with one of my companies looking at stuff. I’ve been to China. It’s interesting. I think over the years I’ve been able to expand what I know by not staying right here, but going and finding out what else is out there.

The nice thing about ASTRA is we do a lot of sharing. We have our own convention, which I think had about 1,500 people last year. I’m always trying to find the new stuff.

Q: A challenge in retail, though many of the children in your store wouldn’t know it, is the Internet. How did you adapt to the online shopping market and what challenges came with it?

A: We have a website, which is busy. My son did all the technical stuff. Over the years it’s grown a lot, but we also have a lot more competition. It’s not just my neighbors anymore who are our competition. It’s everywhere. I think almost everyone has that challenge.

Q: Santa Claus is coming to town soon. How do you handle the rush of parents and, you know, Santa’s helpers this time of year?

A: A knowledgeable staff and a social staff. People come in and expect to be listened to, talked to and helped to make good decision. It’s very important to me that we have a great staff that knows the product and can help people with individual needs. We also do free gift wrapping. And, you know, be happy, because it is a busy time of the year, but it’s also a really fun time of year.

Q: I never thought I’d ask this to a business owner, but this is happening. What is your favorite kind of toy?

A: I think it is really interesting to look at the basics and see what a kid can do with it. Like, a ball. It’s the oldest toy ever, and kids still love to play with them. Imaginary play, too, and we have hotdog cart downstairs that has pretend ice cream, hotdogs and condiments. It’s just so fun to watch kids pretend, and they pretend what they see. Then to watch them do the science things and to learn how to experiment is fun. Everything is interesting.

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 1:49 AM with the headline "Customers grow with State College toy shop."