September 15th 2021
I love Montreal. How can you not? There’s so much to see and do. Wander the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal. Frequent the unique shops or enjoy dining at the wonderful patio of The Old Port Steak House or Nelson’s Jardin. Head up to the mountain to Beaver Lake. Just a great spot to wander and enjoy. And eateries, Schwartz’s on St. Laurent Blvd., famous for its smoked meat. Dunn’s in downtown. Or if you enjoy the fabulous French Canadians tradition of a sugar bush adventure, you can find it 12 months of the year at the Sucrerie De La Montagne.
I try to get to Montreal 3 or 4 times a year. But not lately, with the limitations of COVID-19 I haven’t been to Montreal in almost two years. Until last week when COVID’s restriction allowed things to open up again.
Beside the obvious ambiance and wonderful dining of Montreal’s fare there was an ulterior motive to my venture. Toyland!
As most of you know, at our head office in St. Catharines, we have a room set aside for youngsters. We call it Toyland. It’s chucked full of toys for both boys and girls, young and not so young.
The idea is that a trip to a real estate office shouldn’t just be an adventure for Mom and Dad. It should be fun for the whole family – kids as well. And so, while Mom and Dad meet with their agent to discuss the housing options or review paperwork, the kids get to “shop” Toyland. They have an opportunity to check out the shelves and sort through the treasure chest. And whatever toy catches their eye, they get to take home with them. You’ve heard the expression about “a kid in a candy store”. Well, “the kid in the toy store” is just as captivating. It’s great to see their eyes light up. Watch them shop and when it’s time to leave, see them head out with Mom and Dad lugging a personal treasure under their arms.
As you can imagine, we go through a lot of toys over time. One of the challenges is keeping the room full, the shelves stocked, and the selection varied. To achieve this, we need to know our way around toy stores. Of course, there are several great opportunities here in Niagara to shop for toys. But one of my favorite sources is a toy store located in downtown Montreal, between Place Ville Marie and Rue. St. Catharine, in the underground. There is an entire maze of stores, fashion boutiques and food courts below the streets. And at this point in our climb out of COVID, everything is back open.
My wife Deb and I stay right downtown at the Sheraton, just a short walk from Rue St. Catherine, Crescent Street, the Bell Centre and the shops of Place Ville Marie. Needless to say, we spent a few hours and took more than a couple of trips to the toy store. In the end with 9-10 giant bags filled with toys, we loaded the car up and headed back, feeling pleased with the results of our trip.
We keep the Toyland room fully stocked at all times and in order to do that we maintain a backup stockroom for toys also loaded. As Toyland gets down in supplies, we simply stock back up from the stockroom, and when the stockroom gets down. Well, it’s time to hit the stores again.
Soon with the fall season upon us, Costco, Walmart, and specialty toy stores like Toys R Us will be stocking up for Christmas. At this time of the year, they bring in a lot of unique toys and we love to take advantage. And while we don’t typically venture to Montreal in winter, there just might be one trip still as a possibility for 2021. Toys at “Tour de Jeux” and lunch down in Old Montreal. It’s just another one of the joys of the job. For our clients, for their kids, for our agents, and of course for me. I get to take the trip and do the shopping.