Jasmine Trocchia: Welcome back to Make the Connection A Plus Plus podcast for parents, moms of kids ages two to ten. Welcome back. I'm so glad you're here. My name is Jasmine. I'm in the marketing department at Plus Plus USA. And I am joined today by a very special guest, and I'm super excited to have on the podcast lots of insight. Hilary Key from the Brown County Toy Chest. Did I say that correctly? Is that the name of your store? And let me just let you introduce yourself, 'cause you would tell that story so much better than me.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Great. Well, first, yes, you did say it right. The business name is just the toy chest, but there are multiple toy chess that we're not all connected to each other. So Brown County Toy Chess is the tag we use because we're in a tourist location. So a lot of people in the Midwest know Brown County from coming here to visit to see the leaves change and see the elevation. I always tell people I'm in the part of Indiana where the corn stops and the trees start. yeah, and people are like, I didn't know there was that part of Indiana.
Jasmine Trocchia: Right.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Right, so that's where we are, right by Indiana University. the store is the oldest toy store in Indiana, so it was started in 1970, and I've I purchased the store in 2014. we have grown our business online substantially. So we have so many customers that we ship to weekly all over the country. and what we do for them is is really fun with a lot of like personal shopping and a lot of really increasing their connections with their kids and the amount that they're playing is the feedback that we get.
Jasmine Trocchia: What did you do before buying the store?
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: so my background, I always say nobody gets in the toy industry in a linear path. but I did get there quickly. So I was after undergrad, I went into a neuroscience PhD program and I was in my second year applying for fellowships where I really needed to know which career path I wanted to take. If I wanted to be in academia or an industry, that was when I realized I just liked school and I didn't want to actually do anything I was headed towards. So I did a lot of journaling, a lot of soul searching. I realized that grad school was the first time in my life that I wasn't really playing anymore. All my siblings are younger than me, all of my cousins are younger than me. I started babysitting at 10 and I babysat weekly. I had been a full-time nanny. I nanny through college. I get to grad school, I'm making a stipend, I'm not working extra jobs, and I'm not playing. and I felt that lack in my life and decided I wanted to get into the toy industry. So I ended up going into the store that I now own because I had known it growing up, asking for a job. They had been trying to sell, and over the next year and a half, we negotiated for them to sell to a 24-year-old.
Jasmine Trocchia: I was gonna say grad school, you're like in your early to mid twenties and you bought a toy store.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah, and I was twenty one when I finished I was twenty one when I finished undergrad, so I was really yeah, I was young.
Jasmine Trocchia: Wow, that's so fun. So has your background in neuroscience played a part in how you run your business?
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: I think it does, especially in terms of I have a constant interest. I also was splitting my time in a psychology lab. and so my interest in child development and play patterns and in the the science in play is very real and is something that, you know, when I was reading all these parenting books when my kids were little, everyone was like, that's just, you know, like the phase you're in. I was like, no, this is like a real legitimate interest, you know. So I still I read all kinds of play books all the time, especially as a reader. relates to the brain. And so that has stayed. And then the other thing is I think there are a lot of corollaries from science to business. And so it's not an overlap that a lot of people have, but my willingness to experiment, my openness to failure, because in science you pretty much always fail. And then maybe sometimes it works. So I think that my science background real definitely affects me as a business person.
Jasmine Trocchia: That's really interesting. I didn't think about that. I mean I took the certified play expert course and so yeah, C P E. Fun. Did you take that one in at Astra? I know we were we
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Mm-hmm.
Jasmine Trocchia: were talking before, we weren't really gonna name drop Astra 'cause that doesn't mean much to consumers, but it's a a big toy industry, person what it like networking group, yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: It's the trade organization for specialty toys. So for people who specialize in toys. and I did, I did the certified play expert back in, let's see, I was pregnant with my daughter. So it was nine years ago, because she's eight now. so whatever year that was. Yeah, twenty seventeen.
Jasmine Trocchia: Wow. Yeah. Okay.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: And then I actually just had
Jasmine Trocchia: It happened so fast.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: my entire staff do it this past month. So that now if you come and shop in my store, whoever's helping you is a certified play expert.
Jasmine Trocchia: how fun. So they're literally certified in what they're showing you and teaching you when you come shop there.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yes. Yep. So then they are really able to help you with more than like, I need a doll, can you show me the dolls? They can really help you with I have an eight-year-old granddaughter who the things she's asking for aren't really what I want to give her. This is what I'm going for. What do you think she'd still enjoy? And you know, what is going to really meet mom's goals, but also appeal to the kid and really have a lot more of a play background in selling toys than just a toy background or a sales background.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah. So you're getting you're really selling the full experience. Like you don't just want to sell them a toy because you have it on your shelf.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Absolutely. And that's what, you know, in a staff meeting this week, a thing that I really said was a happy customer is a customer who left with the right toy. If you sold something and made sales and the number looks great, fine. But we want them to have the connection and the experience with us, and then they go home and they see that they really left with the right thing, and what they're seeing happening in the play is something that they're really excited about. And so that's the quality that they're returning for.
Jasmine Trocchia: What are some of the questions when a customer comes to you, maybe that you you don't know, or a first time customer, what are some of the things that you talk to them about or ask them? Do you have almost like a consultation with them? Or do you just kind of feel them out depending on what they came in for?
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: So two different ways. One, I said we do a lot of our sales online now, and the majority of those are custom packages that all come with questions. So let's say the first time we worked with you, you were ordering a birthday box for your six-year-old son. There are questions attached to that order. so when you purchase that $100, it asks, what are the kids' interests? You know, what are things you absolutely do not want? Like it's usually slime. but we love Love slime, but from the parents we get it. No slime.
Jasmine Trocchia: Right, no slime, no more slime on my couch. That's not no.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Right. so there are questions, so that serves with the online orders as the first consultation, and then as we're doing the back and forth to get the box right, then we really learn about the kid and the family and the needs. And then when you're in the store, it usually starts with whatever you're looking at. So if you're in the room that has a little kid's toys, I usually open with, what age is the little one that you're shopping for? and then we learn that it's, you know, a grandkid and they just really love trucks, and then that can go one of two ways. So So all I'm interested in is trucks or I I gotta get him something that's not a truck, but what is that? You know? and then
Jasmine Trocchia: Right. Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: that opens the door to more conversation.
Jasmine Trocchia: fantastic. That's really neat. So if a mom is coming to you and going through that experience, what advice would you give a mom who's shopping with you? Like, you know, something you see that you wish you could tell every customer, like, even before you come and look at the trucks, here's what I want you to know.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Mm-hmm, man, that's a big question. Okay. and I am a mom, so my kids are eight and ten. and I've owned the toy store longer than I've had my kids. So they've lived in this toy store life their whole lives. and so I've gotten to test and experiment a lot of these things. the battle that most people are having is with screens, which I understand is very real. In my house, it's more real with my son than with my daughter. My daughter will go do her own thing or even if a screen is on she's not sucked totally into it my son is and so to if a goal of a parent is more connection less screen you know I urge them first you just have to have a hard limit on the screens so my kids get two hours of video games on Saturday and Sunday mornings and that's that's what they get so they know they're going to get it it does exist they know how Minecraft works they are socially can you know know, engage with their friends on all of these things, but then it's just not on the table after dinner. So if we've eaten dinner and homework is done and we have 45 minutes, a board game is more of an option when the screen is not an option. So one for me I found that the limits really help open the window to the other play that everyone's going to enjoy and going to benefit from, but it wasn't gonna top the list if the screen was an option. From there, we do this all the time. So like we know the tricks. We know that the games that have the kinetic energy and the movement or that have hit points and and levels of health, we know where to start with the appeal to the kids. That would rather have the video game, but it's it's just not an option right now. like I said, I have one of those. That's my 10-year-old son. so you know, we're playing a lot of board games, a lot of building. and so then moving into the the items that are gonna first have that kind of instant appeal, then opens the door to the next level of things. And eventually, what I love to get to because it is so beneficial but also so hard to sell, is open ended play. Because so many magical things happen in open-ended play. Kids are, you know, using their artistic abilities, they're expressing their emotions. But open-ended play is a tough starting point. If you know you're going from screens to explicit instructions and then to open-ended, you've got to you've got to kind of work there. And so expect the scaffolding and know it's okay. It's fine if it feels hard.
Jasmine Trocchia: what is your most favorite toys that you currently sell? Like what do you currently see on the market that are some of your favorites? And please say plus plus. Just kidding.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yes, of course. okay, so every everyone who follows us on social media where we are very, very active, like daily live videos, everything, they know we use the word favorite a lot. and I always have to like there was a badge at here goes Astor again that I could add to my badge that said easily excitable. So I get really excited about play. I have lots of favorites. but plus plus I I couldn't even say how long Plus Plus has been in my house because I think again that I've been selling Plus Plus potentially longer th similar. How long's Plus Plus been in the United States? Ten years, okay. And I have a ten year old.
Jasmine Trocchia: ten years. Ten years this in twenty yeah, twenty twenty six. Mhm.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Okay, so I've been selling Plus Plus about as long as I've had children. So by the time Jasper was two, I'm sure that we had Plus Plus in my house because I personally love I like to just make what I call a carpet that I just am putting them together flat. That doesn't that
Jasmine Trocchia: mm-hmm.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: feel, that sensory experience of just putting them together is a personal favorite of mine. so it's one that I always would get out. and so we've been playing that since probably I had about a two, three-year-old. We should stick with the safety. Testing here. And we still play with it. My kids
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah, yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: now, without me involved at all, they'll have a friend over. We had a really in-depth axolotl wedding that happened on my couch. And then the friend had to go home and we couldn't clean up the wedding. So we had to have the friend back over the next day to finish this axolotl wedding. And it was a whole big thing. I sent pictures, I texted Ryan pictures. I was you would
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: don't tell me how you've taken over my house. And my kids are on the upper end of the age limit for plus plus. so those are there is no a hundred percent. Right.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah. Right. There is no there is no upper end. I play with plus plus every single day for work and I still want to play with it.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: So, my favorite toys are toys that have a really long lifespan, so they appeal to a huge age range and are multi-use. So the great thing about Plus Plus is you can follow the instructions and you can build something the way it says, or you don't have any sets specifically for axolotl weddings, do you? You know, it
Jasmine Trocchia: Mm mm.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: it can morph very quickly into fully open-ended. and because it's all the one shape, it's less intimidating than like, I don't know what this one brick piece is supposed to be. to do, I don't know how to use it. so it's exceptionally open-ended. And then like I said, we we're living in a world of squish right now. and to me that just speaks to the sensory input that we're all And I don't think that's going away because we spend a lot of our time on screens, on computers, our hands aren't in the dirt, we're not physically turning pages, so we're just not getting that constant sensory input. And I've always loved the sensory input I get from connecting plus plus. and so again, it's not build as a sensory toy, but it's another element that is in there. because any physical building toy, you're getting that. So I guess that was my spiel on my love for plus plus.
Jasmine Trocchia: Couldn't have said it better myself, thank you. Well what what else what
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: what else do you do you love that's on the market right now?
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: So it's been a tough year because of this one two combo. Last year we had Big tariffs on toys that I think scared a lot of manufacturers out of making things that are large and were kind of a risk. So things that are big and were new and novel, I think those kind of put a little damper on, you know, my big toys that are still favorites, air tubes, rail cubes. there's there aren't a lot of those big wow new this year. because everyone's money's going into squishy toys. And so while I have a lot of favorites, I don't have a ton of like, whoa, that is new and big, and that's the thing you want to spend $300 on for Christmas. but I'm spending a lot of time defending squishies. because like I said, that sensory, that need for that sensory input is real. and so even if the parent or the grandparent doesn't understand it and they're like, we just played with the stick, I'm like, exactly. And getting accidentally hit by that stick was was a feel for you, you know, that you weren't realizing. is being missed now, you know, when we're we're not letting those things happen. I sell a lot of books that people don't think of as play, but a lot of especially I like to combine my play and so you know when we have a book that we're reading the nonfiction and now we're going out and doing a scavenger hunt for these different kinds of rocks. so a lot of books that lead to more play. and then I'm a board game person. We my store hosts a board game conference every spring. I'm on a committee that reviews board games for an industry re award. So I personally am a big board game person, so I always have favorite board games. Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: Fun. And that's I mean, there's so many skills in a board game. There's following rule like instructions
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: So many.
Jasmine Trocchia: and then there's cooperative and then there's you know, strategy and there's so many things that a board
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Absolutely.
Jasmine Trocchia: game can can touch. For sure.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: And what I'm always saying is that if you don't like board games, or if you believe you don't like board games, you're just you're playing the wrong board games because it's completely fair to I don't like Monopoly. sorry, Monopoly people, but Monopoly was invented to be disliked. so I I don't like Monopoly, but that doesn't mean I don't like board games. I love board games. it's completely fair if you don't like when there's a speed element because your ten year old grandson always crushes you and it's like you're not even playing. So we're always telling people we play all of our board games so that we can take those little nuances of what doesn't work for you in board games and really find the board games that do work for you because there's so much, I mean, first just in connection of that time spent together, of that shared experience, that shared set of rules, and then game by game the different skills that a a person's gaining without realizing they're gaining. I I could do a whole thing of board games. I love board games.
Jasmine Trocchia: That's awesome. That's fantastic. I do too. We have so much. I every time I think of a a game, I'm like card games, board games, dice games. That's so much fun.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yes. Yes.
Jasmine Trocchia: so a couple more questions that just kind of came off the top of my head. What are your top picks for this Black Friday? I don't know if you have a couple that you're like,
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Foo foo foo foo.
Jasmine Trocchia: ooh, this is gonna do so good for Black Friday this year.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Mm mm mm. Well I
Jasmine Trocchia: If you have any.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: I mean, I already mentioned it, but I do think we're gonna see have another big air tubes year because they're a play pattern that will never die. You know, putting a a ball in a tube and watching it go and fly, you know, it's a STEM toy. It's my kids they love to my ten-year-old son build this wild track and then my eighteen month-old niece put the ball in and they watch it go, and then the cat chases it. So everyone's involved. and because the new Evo, they were able to make The motor at a lower price. I think it's going to be a lot more accessible. and we'll, I think, have another big air tubes year. I think it's going to be a year of and I can't believe I'm saying this because this is the opposite of what I like personally in my own house, but it would be great for Plus Plus. I think people are going to buy more smaller things. because as budgets get a little tighter, it's easier to spend $15 here and then in another week spend another. 25 maybe. and so I think we're going to have a really big year for craft kits because those are really now being made across the board for every age. You know, we didn't used to think of adults crafting a lot, but that's a very real market. so I think it's going to be a big year for craft kits to all ages. and I like I hate to keep saying it, but I can't ignore that it is the year of the squish. it is the year of the squish.
Jasmine Trocchia: The year of the squish.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Squish. but I think taking that and converting it into a lot of different sensory, you know, like this squishy is not age appropriate for your two-year-old, but letting them really get their hands messy in some finger paint is and so taking that sensory need and translating it into all of these other play patterns that again I think is gonna be more six thirty dollar items, you know, than the one really big item. but I think we're gonna see a lot also arts. And crafts is a really easy translation from squish and sensory into you're doing this with your hands and you're feeling the texture of the paint even with a brush. yeah, I know I should have prepared more with like specific, specific products. but yeah, those are
Jasmine Trocchia: No, I think this generalization's good. I like that you're tying it all together, so it's you're not just like, Go buy, you know, Nito right now.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Go by this.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Right, because that's you know, I I'm no stranger again with two kids and you want to see kids with a lot of toys. I have reps drop off toys that they're like, have your kids play with this and tell me what you think. I mean, I so understand that there's too much stuff in my house. and I think a lot of times that can happen because there was a little bit of a mismatch in the beginning because you bought the thing that was on the show that was recommended by the person or that everybody's wanting. but really with a little more talk and conversation could land on, I see what you're trying to accomplish in wanting that toy. Now that you've told me about your kid, I actually think this one is a slightly better fit. and so because we do so much that's so customized and personalized, it's really hard for me to give like one fits all answers.
Jasmine Trocchia: Right. No, I that totally makes sense. Very refreshing to hear too. just that you're matching the customer, the client with the toy rather than, you know, just trying
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah, you know,
Jasmine Trocchia: to push it.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: we want people to have Even this sounds wild for a toy store owner to say, but you know, maybe people have fewer toys, but they're higher quality and better fits, especially for the age and stage that a kid is at. Because another thing is people always want to buy a head. You know, they want to get the bicycle for the first birthday gift, something that is like so nowhere near what is like they're developmentally ready for. And then what I see because I help collect donations for another organization, is a lot of toys get donated. before they were ever even age appropriate for the kid, or when they are age appropriate for the kid because it's been sitting in the house for two years, you ended up thinking the kid didn't like it, but it really just wasn't the right time. and then
Jasmine Trocchia: Hm.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: it's a great toy that probably the kid would like then, but they're kind of bored of looking at it, or even just the parent is, which I totally understand. Yeah. Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah, I was like that for a lot of my kids' toys. We had a we had a Barbie apocalypse once when my kids were little and I was like, We're do we have too many. This is not this is yeah. This is it.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: What we have too many I d I can't. Yes, right. Right. Yeah. And I, you know, I want to keep everybody happy, because If I sell toys that the parents like and the parents want to play with, they're going to be so much more inclined to play with their kids. So then you're getting back to that connection point. you're less frustrated with the place you bought it. That was me, sorry. so we want to avoid that. and yeah, just the better fit, I think, leads to a better experience.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah, that's great. I love that. It's a good soundbite too there, Hillary. so we have a few minutes left. I wanted
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Okay, right.
Jasmine Trocchia: to ask you one more, what has been your biggest win this past year? Or have you just not experienced that big win yet? And maybe that's not necessarily in terms of sales, if you know what I mean.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: It. I mean this this is a more of a a business win. but again a thing I bet you have moms watching who can relate to burnout. and
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: I have my business has been in like an extreme growth phase for five, six years, which has been very taxing on me and a big part of it is we have you can't tell, but I'm sitting in a Victorian house is what my store is. so I'm upstairs in my office, but downstairs we have only Only twelve hundred square feet of albeit beautiful high maintenance to merchandise, high maintenance to constantly restock, and to pump a really big volume through. so I was very limited on space in terms of where I could put items, where I could put people. my o my backstock was in my garage, so I personally restocked the store every single morning for ten years. if I left town I had to really pay for that, you know, making that up.
Jasmine Trocchia: Huh. Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Either pay for it in lost sales or pay for it in you know, the hours I was gonna make up when I got back, and most of the time both. so at the end of last year we finished construction on my warehouse, which has let me hire a lot more people and move people into so I've restructured to the point where I have two people full-time on our custom packages so they're able to really keep up with those. I have a warehouse manager who is spectacular and keeps our inventory counts closer to correct and those online orders moving out. out and the store restocked without me having to do it. so my biggest win this year has been that I've finally gotten myself and my business to a point that I feel okay again. No.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah, there you go. That is a big win. Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah. So anyone who's three years into maybe getting burnt out. I I've said
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah, yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: the words that I can't see a light at the end of the tunnel. That I you know, when I was like in the toughest spot, I was like, and the worst part is I don't know when this ends. And it ended. Yeah. So now we are able to like really grow and really give a lot more to our customers because everyone's not overworked the way they were. Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: fantastic. It's just a it that sounds like a win, win, win everywhere. So yeah. Wonderful.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Everywhere. Yes. Everywhere. Yes.
Jasmine Trocchia: So where can interested listeners or interested viewers find you if they want to participate in your little concierge service or if they
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: want to see what your recommendations would be for them? How can how can our listeners reach you?
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: We try to make ourselves as easy to find as possible. So if you want to physically come to us anywhere in the Midwest, I mean we are one hour from Louisville, one hour from Indianapolis, two hours from Cincinnati, four hours from St. Louis. we're and that's all like a straight shot. Nashville, Indiana. Right. It's easiest
Jasmine Trocchia: in Nashville, Indiana, which is not to be confused with Nashville, Tennessee. Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: to say that we are very near Bloomington, Indiana, where Indiana. Is so go hoosiers, that's where we are. 20 minute drive there. And so we're very accessible. And then once you get to town, we are the big blue Victorian house on the corner. so very easy to find. online we're brown county toy chests.com. Brown County Toy Chests are the Facebook and the Instagram handles. we're most active on Facebook because that's where our audience is. That's where people have found us and like us. So we go live on Facebook five days a week, sometimes more. and then on our website, we're a regular toy store, so you can just make a card of items, but That service that I was talking about, that's all of our custom bundles. So like right now we're doing a lot of boobags. We're about to move into turkey totes. We're also working on all of the holiday helpers to help you with your your Christmas and Hanukkah shopping. So that is if you shop by department, there's a let us shop for you section and every single thing in there board game packages. So you know I was talking about how we try to play the game so we can match it. If you're like, we need a board game refresh, but I'm looking at these boxes, I'm just guessing, you could just order a hundred dollar board game package, you tell us it asks like the youngest player, what you currently love playing, and then we build that board game package for you. but that's all in that let us shop for you section.
Jasmine Trocchia: I would totally let you shop for me. And my youngest
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: is fourteen, I don't know. Yeah. Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Gets gets challenging there. but the packages we do for adults, I mean, we send so many care packages, birthday packages for adults because haven't you found we're coming into this beautiful time where adults are playing so much? I mean, I left grad school because I realized that I missed playing, but that's not the normal experience. but I think other people do miss playing. Or we hear from a lot of people, I realize I didn't really get a full childhood where I got to be carefree and play. And so I'm trying to move those things into my adult life now to kind of recoup that. And so the adults we see playing warms my heart so much and is like so fun to be able to assist with and enable people to do that.
Jasmine Trocchia: that is fun. I love that. Well, we're definitely playful here at Plus Plus. We jug around
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yes.
Jasmine Trocchia: and play and I get to play with Plus Plus every single day. So I totally get that. Yeah. Well, thank you
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: That's a that's a dream, isn't it?
Jasmine Trocchia: so much, Hilary. Is there anything else that you would like moms to know? as a small business owner or as a toy store owner, that maybe I didn't get to ask you during your interview.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: I don't I don't think so, other than I feel you moms. It's hard. You're doing great.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah. All right. Well thank you so much, Hillary. I would love to have you back on maybe a couple months next season or maybe earlier in the year we can kind of, you know, Yeah. It won't be as crazy
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah, maybe I'll have a voice then. Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: as, you know, the October before Black Friday and you know, holidays. Fantastic.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Right, yes. And October's my f my top month, so it's we have a weird traffic pattern here, but I I like to talk, so I can come on any time you want.
Jasmine Trocchia: Great. Thank you so much, Hilary. And thank you for watching or listening. To make the connection, the podcast with Plus Plus USA. I'm Jasmine. And we will see you next time.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Great. Well, first, yes, you did say it right. The business name is just the toy chest, but there are multiple toy chess that we're not all connected to each other. So Brown County Toy Chess is the tag we use because we're in a tourist location. So a lot of people in the Midwest know Brown County from coming here to visit to see the leaves change and see the elevation. I always tell people I'm in the part of Indiana where the corn stops and the trees start. yeah, and people are like, I didn't know there was that part of Indiana.
Jasmine Trocchia: Right.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Right, so that's where we are, right by Indiana University. the store is the oldest toy store in Indiana, so it was started in 1970, and I've I purchased the store in 2014. we have grown our business online substantially. So we have so many customers that we ship to weekly all over the country. and what we do for them is is really fun with a lot of like personal shopping and a lot of really increasing their connections with their kids and the amount that they're playing is the feedback that we get.
Jasmine Trocchia: What did you do before buying the store?
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: so my background, I always say nobody gets in the toy industry in a linear path. but I did get there quickly. So I was after undergrad, I went into a neuroscience PhD program and I was in my second year applying for fellowships where I really needed to know which career path I wanted to take. If I wanted to be in academia or an industry, that was when I realized I just liked school and I didn't want to actually do anything I was headed towards. So I did a lot of journaling, a lot of soul searching. I realized that grad school was the first time in my life that I wasn't really playing anymore. All my siblings are younger than me, all of my cousins are younger than me. I started babysitting at 10 and I babysat weekly. I had been a full-time nanny. I nanny through college. I get to grad school, I'm making a stipend, I'm not working extra jobs, and I'm not playing. and I felt that lack in my life and decided I wanted to get into the toy industry. So I ended up going into the store that I now own because I had known it growing up, asking for a job. They had been trying to sell, and over the next year and a half, we negotiated for them to sell to a 24-year-old.
Jasmine Trocchia: I was gonna say grad school, you're like in your early to mid twenties and you bought a toy store.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah, and I was twenty one when I finished I was twenty one when I finished undergrad, so I was really yeah, I was young.
Jasmine Trocchia: Wow, that's so fun. So has your background in neuroscience played a part in how you run your business?
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: I think it does, especially in terms of I have a constant interest. I also was splitting my time in a psychology lab. and so my interest in child development and play patterns and in the the science in play is very real and is something that, you know, when I was reading all these parenting books when my kids were little, everyone was like, that's just, you know, like the phase you're in. I was like, no, this is like a real legitimate interest, you know. So I still I read all kinds of play books all the time, especially as a reader. relates to the brain. And so that has stayed. And then the other thing is I think there are a lot of corollaries from science to business. And so it's not an overlap that a lot of people have, but my willingness to experiment, my openness to failure, because in science you pretty much always fail. And then maybe sometimes it works. So I think that my science background real definitely affects me as a business person.
Jasmine Trocchia: That's really interesting. I didn't think about that. I mean I took the certified play expert course and so yeah, C P E. Fun. Did you take that one in at Astra? I know we were we
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Mm-hmm.
Jasmine Trocchia: were talking before, we weren't really gonna name drop Astra 'cause that doesn't mean much to consumers, but it's a a big toy industry, person what it like networking group, yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: It's the trade organization for specialty toys. So for people who specialize in toys. and I did, I did the certified play expert back in, let's see, I was pregnant with my daughter. So it was nine years ago, because she's eight now. so whatever year that was. Yeah, twenty seventeen.
Jasmine Trocchia: Wow. Yeah. Okay.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: And then I actually just had
Jasmine Trocchia: It happened so fast.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: my entire staff do it this past month. So that now if you come and shop in my store, whoever's helping you is a certified play expert.
Jasmine Trocchia: how fun. So they're literally certified in what they're showing you and teaching you when you come shop there.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yes. Yep. So then they are really able to help you with more than like, I need a doll, can you show me the dolls? They can really help you with I have an eight-year-old granddaughter who the things she's asking for aren't really what I want to give her. This is what I'm going for. What do you think she'd still enjoy? And you know, what is going to really meet mom's goals, but also appeal to the kid and really have a lot more of a play background in selling toys than just a toy background or a sales background.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah. So you're getting you're really selling the full experience. Like you don't just want to sell them a toy because you have it on your shelf.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Absolutely. And that's what, you know, in a staff meeting this week, a thing that I really said was a happy customer is a customer who left with the right toy. If you sold something and made sales and the number looks great, fine. But we want them to have the connection and the experience with us, and then they go home and they see that they really left with the right thing, and what they're seeing happening in the play is something that they're really excited about. And so that's the quality that they're returning for.
Jasmine Trocchia: What are some of the questions when a customer comes to you, maybe that you you don't know, or a first time customer, what are some of the things that you talk to them about or ask them? Do you have almost like a consultation with them? Or do you just kind of feel them out depending on what they came in for?
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: So two different ways. One, I said we do a lot of our sales online now, and the majority of those are custom packages that all come with questions. So let's say the first time we worked with you, you were ordering a birthday box for your six-year-old son. There are questions attached to that order. so when you purchase that $100, it asks, what are the kids' interests? You know, what are things you absolutely do not want? Like it's usually slime. but we love Love slime, but from the parents we get it. No slime.
Jasmine Trocchia: Right, no slime, no more slime on my couch. That's not no.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Right. so there are questions, so that serves with the online orders as the first consultation, and then as we're doing the back and forth to get the box right, then we really learn about the kid and the family and the needs. And then when you're in the store, it usually starts with whatever you're looking at. So if you're in the room that has a little kid's toys, I usually open with, what age is the little one that you're shopping for? and then we learn that it's, you know, a grandkid and they just really love trucks, and then that can go one of two ways. So So all I'm interested in is trucks or I I gotta get him something that's not a truck, but what is that? You know? and then
Jasmine Trocchia: Right. Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: that opens the door to more conversation.
Jasmine Trocchia: fantastic. That's really neat. So if a mom is coming to you and going through that experience, what advice would you give a mom who's shopping with you? Like, you know, something you see that you wish you could tell every customer, like, even before you come and look at the trucks, here's what I want you to know.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Mm-hmm, man, that's a big question. Okay. and I am a mom, so my kids are eight and ten. and I've owned the toy store longer than I've had my kids. So they've lived in this toy store life their whole lives. and so I've gotten to test and experiment a lot of these things. the battle that most people are having is with screens, which I understand is very real. In my house, it's more real with my son than with my daughter. My daughter will go do her own thing or even if a screen is on she's not sucked totally into it my son is and so to if a goal of a parent is more connection less screen you know I urge them first you just have to have a hard limit on the screens so my kids get two hours of video games on Saturday and Sunday mornings and that's that's what they get so they know they're going to get it it does exist they know how Minecraft works they are socially can you know know, engage with their friends on all of these things, but then it's just not on the table after dinner. So if we've eaten dinner and homework is done and we have 45 minutes, a board game is more of an option when the screen is not an option. So one for me I found that the limits really help open the window to the other play that everyone's going to enjoy and going to benefit from, but it wasn't gonna top the list if the screen was an option. From there, we do this all the time. So like we know the tricks. We know that the games that have the kinetic energy and the movement or that have hit points and and levels of health, we know where to start with the appeal to the kids. That would rather have the video game, but it's it's just not an option right now. like I said, I have one of those. That's my 10-year-old son. so you know, we're playing a lot of board games, a lot of building. and so then moving into the the items that are gonna first have that kind of instant appeal, then opens the door to the next level of things. And eventually, what I love to get to because it is so beneficial but also so hard to sell, is open ended play. Because so many magical things happen in open-ended play. Kids are, you know, using their artistic abilities, they're expressing their emotions. But open-ended play is a tough starting point. If you know you're going from screens to explicit instructions and then to open-ended, you've got to you've got to kind of work there. And so expect the scaffolding and know it's okay. It's fine if it feels hard.
Jasmine Trocchia: what is your most favorite toys that you currently sell? Like what do you currently see on the market that are some of your favorites? And please say plus plus. Just kidding.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yes, of course. okay, so every everyone who follows us on social media where we are very, very active, like daily live videos, everything, they know we use the word favorite a lot. and I always have to like there was a badge at here goes Astor again that I could add to my badge that said easily excitable. So I get really excited about play. I have lots of favorites. but plus plus I I couldn't even say how long Plus Plus has been in my house because I think again that I've been selling Plus Plus potentially longer th similar. How long's Plus Plus been in the United States? Ten years, okay. And I have a ten year old.
Jasmine Trocchia: ten years. Ten years this in twenty yeah, twenty twenty six. Mhm.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Okay, so I've been selling Plus Plus about as long as I've had children. So by the time Jasper was two, I'm sure that we had Plus Plus in my house because I personally love I like to just make what I call a carpet that I just am putting them together flat. That doesn't that
Jasmine Trocchia: mm-hmm.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: feel, that sensory experience of just putting them together is a personal favorite of mine. so it's one that I always would get out. and so we've been playing that since probably I had about a two, three-year-old. We should stick with the safety. Testing here. And we still play with it. My kids
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah, yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: now, without me involved at all, they'll have a friend over. We had a really in-depth axolotl wedding that happened on my couch. And then the friend had to go home and we couldn't clean up the wedding. So we had to have the friend back over the next day to finish this axolotl wedding. And it was a whole big thing. I sent pictures, I texted Ryan pictures. I was you would
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: don't tell me how you've taken over my house. And my kids are on the upper end of the age limit for plus plus. so those are there is no a hundred percent. Right.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah. Right. There is no there is no upper end. I play with plus plus every single day for work and I still want to play with it.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: So, my favorite toys are toys that have a really long lifespan, so they appeal to a huge age range and are multi-use. So the great thing about Plus Plus is you can follow the instructions and you can build something the way it says, or you don't have any sets specifically for axolotl weddings, do you? You know, it
Jasmine Trocchia: Mm mm.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: it can morph very quickly into fully open-ended. and because it's all the one shape, it's less intimidating than like, I don't know what this one brick piece is supposed to be. to do, I don't know how to use it. so it's exceptionally open-ended. And then like I said, we we're living in a world of squish right now. and to me that just speaks to the sensory input that we're all And I don't think that's going away because we spend a lot of our time on screens, on computers, our hands aren't in the dirt, we're not physically turning pages, so we're just not getting that constant sensory input. And I've always loved the sensory input I get from connecting plus plus. and so again, it's not build as a sensory toy, but it's another element that is in there. because any physical building toy, you're getting that. So I guess that was my spiel on my love for plus plus.
Jasmine Trocchia: Couldn't have said it better myself, thank you. Well what what else what
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: what else do you do you love that's on the market right now?
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: So it's been a tough year because of this one two combo. Last year we had Big tariffs on toys that I think scared a lot of manufacturers out of making things that are large and were kind of a risk. So things that are big and were new and novel, I think those kind of put a little damper on, you know, my big toys that are still favorites, air tubes, rail cubes. there's there aren't a lot of those big wow new this year. because everyone's money's going into squishy toys. And so while I have a lot of favorites, I don't have a ton of like, whoa, that is new and big, and that's the thing you want to spend $300 on for Christmas. but I'm spending a lot of time defending squishies. because like I said, that sensory, that need for that sensory input is real. and so even if the parent or the grandparent doesn't understand it and they're like, we just played with the stick, I'm like, exactly. And getting accidentally hit by that stick was was a feel for you, you know, that you weren't realizing. is being missed now, you know, when we're we're not letting those things happen. I sell a lot of books that people don't think of as play, but a lot of especially I like to combine my play and so you know when we have a book that we're reading the nonfiction and now we're going out and doing a scavenger hunt for these different kinds of rocks. so a lot of books that lead to more play. and then I'm a board game person. We my store hosts a board game conference every spring. I'm on a committee that reviews board games for an industry re award. So I personally am a big board game person, so I always have favorite board games. Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: Fun. And that's I mean, there's so many skills in a board game. There's following rule like instructions
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: So many.
Jasmine Trocchia: and then there's cooperative and then there's you know, strategy and there's so many things that a board
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Absolutely.
Jasmine Trocchia: game can can touch. For sure.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: And what I'm always saying is that if you don't like board games, or if you believe you don't like board games, you're just you're playing the wrong board games because it's completely fair to I don't like Monopoly. sorry, Monopoly people, but Monopoly was invented to be disliked. so I I don't like Monopoly, but that doesn't mean I don't like board games. I love board games. it's completely fair if you don't like when there's a speed element because your ten year old grandson always crushes you and it's like you're not even playing. So we're always telling people we play all of our board games so that we can take those little nuances of what doesn't work for you in board games and really find the board games that do work for you because there's so much, I mean, first just in connection of that time spent together, of that shared experience, that shared set of rules, and then game by game the different skills that a a person's gaining without realizing they're gaining. I I could do a whole thing of board games. I love board games.
Jasmine Trocchia: That's awesome. That's fantastic. I do too. We have so much. I every time I think of a a game, I'm like card games, board games, dice games. That's so much fun.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yes. Yes.
Jasmine Trocchia: so a couple more questions that just kind of came off the top of my head. What are your top picks for this Black Friday? I don't know if you have a couple that you're like,
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Foo foo foo foo.
Jasmine Trocchia: ooh, this is gonna do so good for Black Friday this year.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Mm mm mm. Well I
Jasmine Trocchia: If you have any.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: I mean, I already mentioned it, but I do think we're gonna see have another big air tubes year because they're a play pattern that will never die. You know, putting a a ball in a tube and watching it go and fly, you know, it's a STEM toy. It's my kids they love to my ten-year-old son build this wild track and then my eighteen month-old niece put the ball in and they watch it go, and then the cat chases it. So everyone's involved. and because the new Evo, they were able to make The motor at a lower price. I think it's going to be a lot more accessible. and we'll, I think, have another big air tubes year. I think it's going to be a year of and I can't believe I'm saying this because this is the opposite of what I like personally in my own house, but it would be great for Plus Plus. I think people are going to buy more smaller things. because as budgets get a little tighter, it's easier to spend $15 here and then in another week spend another. 25 maybe. and so I think we're going to have a really big year for craft kits because those are really now being made across the board for every age. You know, we didn't used to think of adults crafting a lot, but that's a very real market. so I think it's going to be a big year for craft kits to all ages. and I like I hate to keep saying it, but I can't ignore that it is the year of the squish. it is the year of the squish.
Jasmine Trocchia: The year of the squish.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Squish. but I think taking that and converting it into a lot of different sensory, you know, like this squishy is not age appropriate for your two-year-old, but letting them really get their hands messy in some finger paint is and so taking that sensory need and translating it into all of these other play patterns that again I think is gonna be more six thirty dollar items, you know, than the one really big item. but I think we're gonna see a lot also arts. And crafts is a really easy translation from squish and sensory into you're doing this with your hands and you're feeling the texture of the paint even with a brush. yeah, I know I should have prepared more with like specific, specific products. but yeah, those are
Jasmine Trocchia: No, I think this generalization's good. I like that you're tying it all together, so it's you're not just like, Go buy, you know, Nito right now.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Go by this.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Right, because that's you know, I I'm no stranger again with two kids and you want to see kids with a lot of toys. I have reps drop off toys that they're like, have your kids play with this and tell me what you think. I mean, I so understand that there's too much stuff in my house. and I think a lot of times that can happen because there was a little bit of a mismatch in the beginning because you bought the thing that was on the show that was recommended by the person or that everybody's wanting. but really with a little more talk and conversation could land on, I see what you're trying to accomplish in wanting that toy. Now that you've told me about your kid, I actually think this one is a slightly better fit. and so because we do so much that's so customized and personalized, it's really hard for me to give like one fits all answers.
Jasmine Trocchia: Right. No, I that totally makes sense. Very refreshing to hear too. just that you're matching the customer, the client with the toy rather than, you know, just trying
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah, you know,
Jasmine Trocchia: to push it.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: we want people to have Even this sounds wild for a toy store owner to say, but you know, maybe people have fewer toys, but they're higher quality and better fits, especially for the age and stage that a kid is at. Because another thing is people always want to buy a head. You know, they want to get the bicycle for the first birthday gift, something that is like so nowhere near what is like they're developmentally ready for. And then what I see because I help collect donations for another organization, is a lot of toys get donated. before they were ever even age appropriate for the kid, or when they are age appropriate for the kid because it's been sitting in the house for two years, you ended up thinking the kid didn't like it, but it really just wasn't the right time. and then
Jasmine Trocchia: Hm.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: it's a great toy that probably the kid would like then, but they're kind of bored of looking at it, or even just the parent is, which I totally understand. Yeah. Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah, I was like that for a lot of my kids' toys. We had a we had a Barbie apocalypse once when my kids were little and I was like, We're do we have too many. This is not this is yeah. This is it.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: What we have too many I d I can't. Yes, right. Right. Yeah. And I, you know, I want to keep everybody happy, because If I sell toys that the parents like and the parents want to play with, they're going to be so much more inclined to play with their kids. So then you're getting back to that connection point. you're less frustrated with the place you bought it. That was me, sorry. so we want to avoid that. and yeah, just the better fit, I think, leads to a better experience.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah, that's great. I love that. It's a good soundbite too there, Hillary. so we have a few minutes left. I wanted
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Okay, right.
Jasmine Trocchia: to ask you one more, what has been your biggest win this past year? Or have you just not experienced that big win yet? And maybe that's not necessarily in terms of sales, if you know what I mean.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: It. I mean this this is a more of a a business win. but again a thing I bet you have moms watching who can relate to burnout. and
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: I have my business has been in like an extreme growth phase for five, six years, which has been very taxing on me and a big part of it is we have you can't tell, but I'm sitting in a Victorian house is what my store is. so I'm upstairs in my office, but downstairs we have only Only twelve hundred square feet of albeit beautiful high maintenance to merchandise, high maintenance to constantly restock, and to pump a really big volume through. so I was very limited on space in terms of where I could put items, where I could put people. my o my backstock was in my garage, so I personally restocked the store every single morning for ten years. if I left town I had to really pay for that, you know, making that up.
Jasmine Trocchia: Huh. Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Either pay for it in lost sales or pay for it in you know, the hours I was gonna make up when I got back, and most of the time both. so at the end of last year we finished construction on my warehouse, which has let me hire a lot more people and move people into so I've restructured to the point where I have two people full-time on our custom packages so they're able to really keep up with those. I have a warehouse manager who is spectacular and keeps our inventory counts closer to correct and those online orders moving out. out and the store restocked without me having to do it. so my biggest win this year has been that I've finally gotten myself and my business to a point that I feel okay again. No.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah, there you go. That is a big win. Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah. So anyone who's three years into maybe getting burnt out. I I've said
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah, yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: the words that I can't see a light at the end of the tunnel. That I you know, when I was like in the toughest spot, I was like, and the worst part is I don't know when this ends. And it ended. Yeah. So now we are able to like really grow and really give a lot more to our customers because everyone's not overworked the way they were. Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: fantastic. It's just a it that sounds like a win, win, win everywhere. So yeah. Wonderful.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Everywhere. Yes. Everywhere. Yes.
Jasmine Trocchia: So where can interested listeners or interested viewers find you if they want to participate in your little concierge service or if they
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: want to see what your recommendations would be for them? How can how can our listeners reach you?
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: We try to make ourselves as easy to find as possible. So if you want to physically come to us anywhere in the Midwest, I mean we are one hour from Louisville, one hour from Indianapolis, two hours from Cincinnati, four hours from St. Louis. we're and that's all like a straight shot. Nashville, Indiana. Right. It's easiest
Jasmine Trocchia: in Nashville, Indiana, which is not to be confused with Nashville, Tennessee. Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: to say that we are very near Bloomington, Indiana, where Indiana. Is so go hoosiers, that's where we are. 20 minute drive there. And so we're very accessible. And then once you get to town, we are the big blue Victorian house on the corner. so very easy to find. online we're brown county toy chests.com. Brown County Toy Chests are the Facebook and the Instagram handles. we're most active on Facebook because that's where our audience is. That's where people have found us and like us. So we go live on Facebook five days a week, sometimes more. and then on our website, we're a regular toy store, so you can just make a card of items, but That service that I was talking about, that's all of our custom bundles. So like right now we're doing a lot of boobags. We're about to move into turkey totes. We're also working on all of the holiday helpers to help you with your your Christmas and Hanukkah shopping. So that is if you shop by department, there's a let us shop for you section and every single thing in there board game packages. So you know I was talking about how we try to play the game so we can match it. If you're like, we need a board game refresh, but I'm looking at these boxes, I'm just guessing, you could just order a hundred dollar board game package, you tell us it asks like the youngest player, what you currently love playing, and then we build that board game package for you. but that's all in that let us shop for you section.
Jasmine Trocchia: I would totally let you shop for me. And my youngest
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: is fourteen, I don't know. Yeah. Yeah.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Gets gets challenging there. but the packages we do for adults, I mean, we send so many care packages, birthday packages for adults because haven't you found we're coming into this beautiful time where adults are playing so much? I mean, I left grad school because I realized that I missed playing, but that's not the normal experience. but I think other people do miss playing. Or we hear from a lot of people, I realize I didn't really get a full childhood where I got to be carefree and play. And so I'm trying to move those things into my adult life now to kind of recoup that. And so the adults we see playing warms my heart so much and is like so fun to be able to assist with and enable people to do that.
Jasmine Trocchia: that is fun. I love that. Well, we're definitely playful here at Plus Plus. We jug around
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yes.
Jasmine Trocchia: and play and I get to play with Plus Plus every single day. So I totally get that. Yeah. Well, thank you
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: That's a that's a dream, isn't it?
Jasmine Trocchia: so much, Hilary. Is there anything else that you would like moms to know? as a small business owner or as a toy store owner, that maybe I didn't get to ask you during your interview.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: I don't I don't think so, other than I feel you moms. It's hard. You're doing great.
Jasmine Trocchia: Yeah. All right. Well thank you so much, Hillary. I would love to have you back on maybe a couple months next season or maybe earlier in the year we can kind of, you know, Yeah. It won't be as crazy
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Yeah, maybe I'll have a voice then. Yeah.
Jasmine Trocchia: as, you know, the October before Black Friday and you know, holidays. Fantastic.
Hilary Key -The Toy Chest: Right, yes. And October's my f my top month, so it's we have a weird traffic pattern here, but I I like to talk, so I can come on any time you want.
Jasmine Trocchia: Great. Thank you so much, Hilary. And thank you for watching or listening. To make the connection, the podcast with Plus Plus USA. I'm Jasmine. And we will see you next time.
