Those looking to never grow up can only do so part-time.
Toys “R” Us, expected to open in Thunder Bay next month, is holding a two-day job fair in the city looking to fill 75 positions for the store. The company considers all of those positions part-time, but with the possibility of full-time hours.
That didn’t stop a steady stream of people head to the job fair at the Travelodge Airlane Monday morning.
Dawn Dumoulin said when she saw the building going up in the Thunder Centre, she wanted to try and get a job there.
“It’s a toy store. Who doesn’t want to be an overgrown kid? I think it would be fabulous,” she said waiting to head into a meeting room.
Darren Vaith has actually worked for the company before at a store in Oakvillle, Ont. He said it’s a great place to work, full of good people.
A self-proclaimed nerd, getting to check out all of the toys and video games is a plus. Then there’s working with all of the children who head to the store.
“You get to see kids’ faces light up as they see their favourite toys and they get to play with them,” he said.
While prospective employees are excited about the mega chain’s arrival in the city, local retailers aren’t too concerned.
Gameshelf owner Jackie Laderoute said the giant retailer’s arrival shouldn’t affect her business too much as they only have around a dozen products that overlap. In fact, it may even help.
While both businesses carry base models for popular games like Settlers of Catlan, Toys “R” Us doesn’t carry the numerous expansions for the game.
“It actually just drives people to me because when they want those expansions, I’m the only one carrying them,” she said.
The local store also operates as a venue for people to play games like Settlers or Pokemon and even has staff on hand to teach people how to play.
“That’s part of our core business,” she said. “They don’t have that ongoing community building at all.”
Grace Parker, owner of the Purple Camel Learning Resources, sees no difference between Toys “R” Us coming to town and Target or Walmart’s recent expansions.
Parker believes her store caters to more of a specialty market and doesn’t think Toys “R” Us will have an impact on it.
“Every toy has a learning quality to it,” she said of her store's unique retail angle.
There’s also the bonus of local businesses having more personal customer service, she added.
