London has two of these toy stores

I used to think selling toys was easy. Then Toys R Us in the States filed for bankruptcy. That was an eye opener. Then the Scholastics chain sold its toy store in London to the Mastermind Toys group. Soon after that the small, locally-owned toy store in North London was sold to Mastermind Toys as well.

A good argument can be made that Toys R Us folded in the U.S. because it was bled dry by its hedgefund owner. Backing up that belief is the fact that Toys R Us is still operating in Canada. The Canadian division was bought by a large, Canadian investor and the stores remained open. Are the stores profitable? I believe so, but stay tuned.

The first Mastermind Toys store opened 35 years ago in Toronto. Within a decade there were about ten more stores scattered across the Toronto area. Today there are stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well.

Mastermind Toys is doing more than simply opening new stores to guarantee its survival. It has entered into a partnership with the WE Social Entrepreneurs Initiative. The Mastermind Toys folk have carefully nurtured a reputation for caring for their customers and for the communities in which they operate. And the company likes to brag that it is Canadian—a real plus in today's market place.