BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Treehouse Toy Store in Buffalo's Elmwood Village has been open for 23 years. But, in the past five years, they've noticed their consumers habits starting to change.
“Our business really was concentrated on brick and mortar footsteps, Gaetana Schueckler owner of the Treehouse said. "Now, we have to extend our reach.”
Treehouse has seen a major shift in the way it operates. Over the past few years the toy store has developed a full service website and is even considering delivery. That’s all because of retail giants like Amazon.
“My biggest frustration with the change is that I see people's time shifted more towards being on their phone, and as a toy store owner, I want that time to be shifted towards more play.”
In Treehouse Toy Store, customers have the ability to touch, see, and trial games. This is an experience that cannot be replicated online. But, with these retail giants like amazon forcing small businesses to close, that brick and mortar experience is far and few between.
"If a person decided to click a button one more time a week, or one more time a month. There is an impact to those decisions.” Schueckler said.
And while some people say, 'if you can’t beat em, join em,' — that’s not the Treehouse way.
"Clicking a button and turning on Amazon doesn’t seem like the right transition for us in the business, Schueckler said. "Our shift then becomes spending more time managing what's online versus interacting with our costumers. And then I feel like we lost the whole premise as to why we even have a small business."
That’s not to say they aren’t keeping up with the times. You can find The Treehouse Toy Store on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
