After 23 years in the toy business, its the end of an era for all those touched by Jester’s Fun Factory in Fergus.
With customers that came from all over the province, owner Evelyn Gould and husband and co-owner Tim Gould say it’s the people they will miss the most when they officially retire after Jester’s last day on Feb. 29.
“We’ve seen so many families grow up. There are kids coming for so long, and now we’ve been in business for so long, they’re bringing their kids in. So we’re in a second and third generation for some people,” said Tim.
“A lot of the regular ones you see, you build a relationship with them for sure and its sort of like an extended family member,” said Gould.
With several contests over the years that engaged families with games, puzzles displayed for community members to play together such as the largest manufactured 42,000-piece puzzle, Gould performing magic tricks in a booth in the store, and a flash mob with hundreds of people singing O Canada on July 1., Gould says its the interactive environment of the store that grasped the interest of customers.
“When you engage with the people and they feel like a person and not just another customer, it makes a big difference because you can create those memories with them by playing games,” said Gould.
“We’ve actually won three awards from suppliers for having the best contests,” says Gould giving the example of a Thomas the Train contest in Drayton, where the kids made trains out of cardboard boxes and paraded around the fire hall.
Gould worked as an educational assistant prior to starting her successful toy store. She said it was her entrepreneurial spirit, love for toys and children that drew her to her career.
With 10,000 worth of inventory in her first store, her inventory ended up increasing 13 times as much in Fergus, totalling over $130,000 with employees that have been with her from the very beginning.
With many games such as Settlers of Catan, Crokinole, Wizard Card game, and Lego, Gould says she didn’t necessarily go for the trends when purchasing games.
“We try to get things that stand the test of time and things that are going to be around a long time,” says Gould giving the example of Quarto, the most awarded game in the world created by a Swiss mathematician in 1991.
She says one of her fondest memories is that of a 13-year-old deaf girl who was in the store with her mother looking at magic tricks a few years ago. Evelyn said she would take the girl, Braedenne aside to teach her magic tricks so she can surprise her mother.
"Her mother told me there’s no other store she's ever been in her entire life that had interacted with her, let alone acknowledged her. They say ‘oh she's deaf, we can’t do anything with her,’” said Evelyn.
Gould says she told her mother that she could come to the store anytime. And she did. So she taught her how to use the cash register, created a name tag that read her name in sign language and communicated to Braedenne through notes. A year later, she invited Gould to her Grade 8 graduation where she was valedictorian.
And without giving it a second thought, she went.
“I mean those are the memories that hands down, you can’t replace those, and not expect in retail to have those kinds of memories,” said Gould with tears in her eyes.
“I love interacting. I love seeing kids reach their full potential.”
She said apart from having a fun environment, having an interactive environment was a key to the store’s success.
Owners of the Brighten Up toy store, Chris Bailey and Stepanie Bailey will take over Jester’s Fun Factory and turn it into Brighten Up mid March. The grand opening will take place on April 4.
