The Mission is Mutual

by Ahren Hoffman

“Crazy Aaron’s support of brick-and-mortar specialty stores has never changed,” says Mary Lewis, owner of Learning Express Brookfield in Wisconsin. “Their customer-service team takes a handson approach, which makes it easy to be a customer.”

Since the company began in 1998, its products – ranging from Thinking Putty to Land of Dough – have been staples in neighborhood toy stores across the U.S. “I bootstrapped Crazy Aaron’s from my parents’ basement, so I’ve always felt a connection to those jack-of-alltrades store owners and their commitment to excellence,” explains its founder, Aaron Muderick. “It’s a labor of love for them, and I totally get it. Their mission – to keep Main Streets vibrant, and kids and adults smiling about exciting products – is ours as well.”

After teaching himself chemistry, learning a bit about physics, and experimenting a ton, Aaron created the first batch of Thinking Putty. With its unique composition and sensitive production process, he quickly realized he’d have to build his own factory to make it. Today you can find it on Main Street in Norristown, Pennsylvania. The company works with Philadelphia-area vocational centers that employ exceptional individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities.

“We have been a customer of Crazy Aaron’s from the very beginning,” adds Mary Lewis. “Our customers love the fact that the products are made in the USA with support from people with disabilities. We can’t wait for the 2022 product to hit our shelves.”

There are more than 100 different tins of Thinking Putty with 30-plus unique colors and effects. To wholesale Crazy Aaron’s products or learn more, contact: orders@crazyaarons.com or call 866-278-2845 x301. Visit crazyaarons.com to learn and explore more.

We realized how much we missed in-store events, and will never take one for granted.

Playmobil has some really fun new beach-themed products that we love – including a swimmer that sun burns when exposed to sunlight!

Are there other toy stores on Amelia Island?

A few other shops carry some children’s items, but they don’t feel like competitors. We believe a rising tide lifts all boats so if we can support other small businesses, we love to do that. In fact, I am pretty passionate about it. I could talk all day about the many ways small businesses make the world a better place.

Our biggest competitor is screen time, so we spend a lot of time educating our customers and the public about the importance of screen-free play.

What long-lasting lessons did you learn from the pandemic?

We learned that community involvement makes a difference when times are tough. Our customers went out of their way to make sure we were okay.

The pandemic showed us how resilient and creative we really are. Customers appreciated the new services we offered, which included private shopping, curbside pickup, local delivery, and our wildly popular, custom-curated Easter baskets. We introduced them in 2020 and got a great response. Last year they were even more popular.

We realized how much we missed in-store events, and will never take one for granted.

Like many other stores, we also shifted focus to e-commerce. It remains just a small portion of our total business, but by improving the user experience it’s grown – from not always paying for itself to about 5 percent of our revenue. Our strong web presence really helps to bring shoppers to the store.

What are you most excited about right now?

We are looking forward to growing our Easter basket business. We all enjoy using our Play Expert skills to put together a special selection for each individual kid.

One of our biggest challenges has been making strategic purchases while also dealing with supply chain disruptions. We are learning how to plan and budget without always knowing which products are going to come in. We chose to increase the amount of inventory we have on hand, and while the initial financial outlay was a bit scary, it has proven to be a good choice.