About - The Spirit of Toys

The Beginnings

The Spirit of Toys company was founded by Glenn Stewart in early 2008 but the concept was first conceived back in the late 1980’s inspired by Glenn’s love of antique and collectible toys he discovered in New Hope, PA and at an artist’s exhibit of hand-made, one of a kind, artist toys at the DeCordova Museum in Concord, MA. The first name thought of for the company was “Spirit of The Fun and Funky Toy Empire”, and actual watches were made up with these words and the logo of an old biplane flying across the sky with the pilot’s scarf waving in the wind…

Twenty years later the concept became a reality and the old biplane remained the center piece of the logo but the name changed to “The Spirit of Toys” and the tag line became to “What is a toy? Come in and discover the magic…” The new tag line was inspired by Glenn’s belief that really anything can provide fun, amusement and/or education and thus be defined as a “toy”. For example, in meetings or just plain working at his desk, Glenn is often found playing with a paper clip, bending it and creating different shapes… Thus even a simple paper clip can be a “toy” to some people. And just think back to when you watched a very young toddler open a present! The “toy” was not the product inside the present but rather the wrapping paper as the child merrily ripped it all apart into a thousand pieces!!!

The Toy of the Month Collections

From the beginning in the late 1980’s , Glenn’s vision for the toy company was always really centered around the concept of the “Toy of the Month” that in its most simplistic form featured a new, unique, innovative toy each month… But the true cornerstone of the “Toy of the Month” idea that had the capacity to revolutionize the toy giving experience was targeted on the concept of “Collections”, the giving of toys on a monthly basis or bi-monthly basis or even quarterly basis that were centered around a theme, with each subsequent toy/gift, building on the previous one. And thus “Toy of the Month Collections” was born…

“Toy of the Month Collections” targets people in the child’s life who do not get the opportunity to see the child as often as they may like and/or who want to be remembered to the child on a frequent basis throughout the year without the hassles of having to go out and shop each time they want to give the child a gift… People such as grandparents, divorced moms and dads, uncles and aunts, Godparents, etc. are prime candidates to take advantage of the “Toy of the Month Collections”! For example, they could give a child a unique toy say, for an 8 year old, a Discovery Series that starts out at Christmas time or Hanukah or a birthday, etc. with say a paper making kit. Then depending on the frequency and dollar level of the gift purchased, the next month, or in two months or in three months, the child is sent a new kit, say a Geology kit, followed by another installment of say a Solar System kit at the next appropriate time.

The communication means of choice is via the Internet but direct mail as well as telemarketing is also utilized to strengthen the personal relationship that is critical in making sure the needs of the customer is met and that the end user, the child receiving the toys/gifts, will be truly inspired by each and every installment…

The Brick and Mortar Store

The retail store aspect has always been centered on having three flag ship stores, one in Nantucket, MA, one in Sausalito, CA and the third in New Hope, PA. The Nantucket store was opened June 12^th 2008 and has been evolving ever since under the management of Jim Hastings, a native of Nantucket. Jim and Glenn share the same love of toys and they talked for years about opening a toy store on Nantucket that would bring to the island “unique” toys that are unusual but fun, supported by educational and discovery type toys as well as some of the timeless basic toys. They had a vision of creating their own new version of a “Nantucket FAO Schwartz” toy store, following the lead of the Neiman Marcus model of having one really incredible special, novel expensive toy that is featured in the store and/or the web/direct mail pieces that generates a lot of excitement and curiosity.