As owner of Percy’s Burrow in the Auburn Mall, Laurie St. Pierre knows toys. Old-fashioned wooden toys. Special edition Hotwheels. Calico Critters (one of the hottest, hard-to-find gifts this Christmas season). The best thing about selling toys? Making people happy. The worst thing? Well, if you’ve ever seen parents try to get their 5-year-old to leave a toy store, you already know the answer.
Name: Laurie St. Pierre
Age: 50
Single/married/relationship? Married — to a wonderful, patient man and to a needy business.
Job: Business owner — which is a secret code word for “slave, bookkeeper, stock boy, cashier, purchaser, cleaning crew” — you name it!
What kinds of toys do you have at Percy’s? The heart of our toy lines are the wooden educational toys, mostly by the Melissa & Doug company. Also popular are the wooden log sets by the Roy Toy company, made right in East Machias. Kids love to come to the store to play with the wooden kitchen and grocery store we have on display. New items coming in that make us unique are special edition sets of Hotwheels, Barbie, Matchbox and LEGO that are only sold to specialty shops, not big-box stores or national chains.
Best thing about selling toys? Everyone is happy. Buying toys is fun. Toys bring out the child in everyone.
Worst thing? Kids have so much fun playing in our store that sometimes they don’t want to leave and the parents have to carry them out while they are screaming bloody murder. (Sometimes it’s the child, sometimes it’s the parent.)
What was your favorite toy as a child? It was a billiard game. The cue ball was on a string and you had to pull it back and try to hit another ball into one of the pockets. I could beat my brother at that game, which is probably why I liked it.
Favorite toy now? The Victorian dollhouse we have in the store. I like arranging the furniture and accessories.
Best: Green Machine, Big Wheel or BMX bike? Big Wheel. What was the Green Machine?
Worst: Lawn darts, Slip n’ Slide or Etch-a-Sketch? Lawn darts. I got one of those stuck in my thigh. I still think my brother did it on purpose.
If you could invent a toy, what would it be? It would be a three-dimensional haunted mansion game with lots of secrets doors and passageways. You’d have to collect clues during the game, which would reveal the secret code to open the doors. The doors would be hiding something like a key or treasure. The person who collected the most treasures would win the game. I always liked the secret passageway in the Clue game!
Journal
Pierre,owner of Percy’s Burrow located in the Auburn mall holds some her most
popular toys in her store like Maine made Roy Toy a log cabin play set and
others such as dolls by Gotz and doll houses by Melissa &
Doug.
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- Jose Leiva/sun Journal Laurie St. Pierre,owner of Percy’s Burrow located in the Auburn mall holds some her most popular toys in her store like Maine made Roy Toy a log cabin play set and others such as dolls by Gotz and doll houses by Melissa & Doug.
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