How Mastermind thrives in the cut-throat world of toys

To succeed in today's retail toy world, you need a place that is 'really enchanting to take a child with you, and we’ve got that part,' says Jon Levy, co-founder of Mastermind Toys.It’s the tale of two toy stores. Mastermind Toys, opened by brothers Jon and Andy Levy in North Toronto in 1984, has been in the midst of a massive cross-country expansion, from 11 stores in 2011 to 66 today.

We spoke with Mastermind’s Jon Levy, who will be a keynote speaker at The Globe and Mail Small Business Summit on Tuesday, about the lessons he learned while building his company and why Mastermind continues to grow despite intense competition.We actually started as Mastermind, the educational computer store. We basically took a tiny little shop – like a shoe repair business, 300 square feet on a side street – and fixed it up all by ourselves.

Mastermind is known for its strong customer service. Staff recommend products and wrap presents for customers. How do you instill a strong focus on customer service in your staff? We understand that a person who works in your business will do a great job when they know exactly what it is they’re supposed to do. A number of years ago, we created a learning tool to help educate our sales associates and managers to understand the basics of Mastermind. We call it the Mastermind Academy. One module might be about the way in which we like to speak to our customer. Another module is on how we would like our sales associates to approach a customer in a store.

Source: News Formal (newsformal.com)

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