Staffing and supply shortages have been offset by strong sales at Teeter Totter Toys of late, as parent and kids reach a new stage of COVID-19: from HD to 4K to 3-D.
Three-dimensional board games have been selling by the armful during this latter stage of the pandemic. The Vernon toy store of more than 20 years even managed to sell a 40,000-piece Disney puzzle last month.
Staff were 91裸聊视频渆cstatic,91裸聊视频� but owner Lynne Taylor said the $700 sale was barely worth the effort when you have to lift it.
91裸聊视频淚t was really, really heavy,91裸聊视频� said owner Lynne Taylor.
Teeter Totter91裸聊视频檚 manager, Susan Phillips, said they hadn91裸聊视频檛 even meant to order the mammoth puzzle.
91裸聊视频淭he whole problem with online ordering is it91裸聊视频檚 easy to make a mistake,91裸聊视频� she said.
That91裸聊视频檚 part of what makes stores like Teeter Totter stand out in today91裸聊视频檚 local business scene. Like other Vernon toy stores, Teeter Totter has been a bastion of the pre-pandemic days of brick-and-mortar commerce. Online shopping may be booming but two-day delivery doesn91裸聊视频檛 always fit the bill, and locals still need gift advice on the day before their niece91裸聊视频檚 birthday.
As Taylor told the Morning Star March 26 91裸聊视频� exactly one year after closing due to COVID in 2020 91裸聊视频� nine times out of 10 customer service wins the day.
91裸聊视频淪o many people come to our store for the service, they come in and right away they91裸聊视频檙e looking for something, or they have a child who is a certain age and they go, 91裸聊视频業 haven91裸聊视频檛 a clue what to get them.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�
If they can91裸聊视频檛 find a good fit for the customer in-store, they refer them to another shop in town. It91裸聊视频檚 a display of local gamesmanship during tough times for businesses across the board.
But games involving the physical world 91裸聊视频� at a time when kids have been forced out of in-person activities and into virtual classrooms 91裸聊视频� have helped the business soldier on.
91裸聊视频淏usiness-wise this past year has been really, really good,91裸聊视频� Taylor said. 91裸聊视频淲e had a real surge in puzzles, selling games (and) anything for kids to do at home, to be outside.
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Parents may be seeking out ways to cut down on their kids91裸聊视频� screen time, which many experts are now attributing to a rise in eye-sight issues in children during the pandemic.
Dr. Paul Rollett is an author and optometrist at Okanagan Vision Therapy in Kelowna, which opened a Vernon branch a year and a half ago.
In the COVID period, Rollett estimates referrals for kids dealing with headaches, tension around the eyes and other signs of nearsightedness have gone up by about 25 per cent over 2019.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 probably multi-factorial because we91裸聊视频檙e a growing company,91裸聊视频� he said.
But there is some compelling literature to demonstrate this advance of near-sightedness, says Rollett, citing a JAMA journal article, 91裸聊视频楶rogression of Myopia in School-Aged Children After COVID-19 Home Confinement.91裸聊视频� JAMA is considered one of the world91裸聊视频檚 leading medical journals which publishes research that shapes public policy, the said March 25.
91裸聊视频淗ome confinement appears to be associated with a significant near-sighted shift in children aged six to eight, according to school-based photo screens,91裸聊视频� Rollett said, pointing to a medical journal report titled Progression of Myopia in School-Aged Children after COVID-19 Home Confinement.
91裸聊视频淭hat sort of near-sightedness is certainly on the rise.91裸聊视频�
He also said the JAMA research 91裸聊视频渋s not a small cohort study,91裸聊视频� with 123,000 kids involved.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e definitely advocates of the three-dimensional brain-building activities when possible.91裸聊视频�
Rollett91裸聊视频檚 vision therapy team has used LEGO in the past to help kids aged six to eight develop stronger links between the eyes and the hands.
91裸聊视频淚t forces them to integrate vision and fine-motor skills.91裸聊视频�
It could explain why LEGO is annually among Teeter Totter Toys91裸聊视频� top sellers.
That was until recently, when the supply of the coveted toy bricks completely dried up from November 2020, over the Christmas season and through to the end of February.
Instead, the business has stayed buoyant thanks to over-the-top sales on puzzles, board games and other 3D activities during the pandemic.
91裸聊视频淎 gal that was just here, she came from Kamloops just for puzzles,91裸聊视频� Taylor said. She described a trend of more people leaving the store with five or six puzzles at a time, 91裸聊视频渨hereas in the past they might get one, some might get two.91裸聊视频�
Whether or not parents are catching on to the problem of ramped-up screen time, Taylor says grandparents are already on the same page as the 91裸聊视频榝ine-motor activity proponents.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淭hey don91裸聊视频檛 even believe in screen time,91裸聊视频� she laughed.
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