A former manager for a Fortune 500 company, Brent [Taylor] jumped off the corporate ladder in 2002 and returned to his hometown to open Brilliant Sky Toys & Books with his wife Sonia, a registered nurse, and their three children. The combination of corporate, parenting, and caregiving experience lead the Taylor’s to define a unique retail concept and business model that has been embraced by communities nationwide and has grown from a single location to one of the fastest growing toy retailing concepts in the country in just seven years.
There’s something to say about a local small businesses that thrives in this day and age of big box stores that have toy section or large, mass chain toy stores. It’s difficult to find them, but places like Brilliant Sky Toys & Books are the perfect mixture of “down the street” charm with national brand name toys and a plethora of amazing books.
Brilliant Sky Toys & Books was founded in 2002 in Lansing, MI by Brent and Sonia Taylor, parents of three. It was based on their belief that the right toys and other playthings give children “a gateway to physical, emotional, and cognitive development […]”. I couldn’t agree more. Currently based out of Brentwood, TN and with fifteen stores in eight states, Brilliant Sky Toys & Books is becoming one of the fastest growing toy retailers in the country.
Not only does my state have four of the stores, I’m within a reasonable driving distance to two of them! I was able to visit both locations and you can read about my experience at the Cary store right here. I also stopped in to visit the Raleigh location which is located in shopping center I’m pretty familiar with! Although this location doesn’t do as many in-store events as the Cary location, I found it to be more spacious with its layout, giving me the opportunity to see more with a glance.
This location offers Story Time for the kids as well as much needed Moms Nights Out. You can also enjoy these upcoming events:
- 11/11/13 Paint N Play Party – Three different time slots: 10:30/12:30/2:30 ($$$)
- 11/14/13 Silhouettes by Clay Rice – Call for reservations ($$$)
The location is in a extremely busy shopping center, so this location does less in-store events and outside summer time fun, but they did do something cute with a local elementary school, a trick-or-treat! And because of the amount of stores in the area, they get a lot of repeat customers. With how friendly I was greeted when we first walked in the store, I couldn’t imagine them not having a ton of regular customers!
Brilliant Sky is also home to the 2013 Brilliance Award Winner. Each year they choose the top toys from thousands and offer a diverse collection of winners. The prices range from $12.99 to $84.99 this year, so there is something available for everyone’s budget and something for each age! Some of the winner’s include the always popular Melissa & Doug brand with their Standing Easel (ages 3+) and a Switch & Spin Magnetic Gear Board (ages 2+). There is also a Deluxe Magic Set (ages 8+) for budding magicians or the Lego Brickmaster Lego City (ages 5+) for the building champion amongst other amazing toys!
One of the hands down best charms about this toy store is the free gift wrapping. When you purchase any toy, you can have it wrapped up by the amazing staff in colorful papers with matching bows. While you’re waiting on your gifts to be wrapped, take a look around the walls of the store. I mean it. The same artist travels to each store to paint the walls, so although the locations are miles upon miles apart, there is a unique yet uniformed look to each store.
Each stores has a tree house mural and they’re just breathtaking. The picture above features the murals at either of Lori’s locations in the triangle area. The bottom picture even includes her children at the time her store opened. How adorable are they? After digging online, I found that most location owners have their children or families painted with the tree house or things that pertain to their local area. It’s a great way to incorporate a little piece of the owners and town while still keeping all the locations connected in a special way!
If you’re lucky enough to live close to any of the Brilliant Sky Toys and Book locations, then go check them out as soon as possible! The in-store events, free wrapping, community sensitive atmosphere, and the floor to rafter filled shelves truly make this toy store the best of the best small businesses out there!
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I received a sample product for this review. All opinions expressed are my own and/or families. Take it or leave it. Click here to view the whole disclosure policy.
