Toytopia all about 'the experience'
Sep. 7—MINERAL WELLS — It's time to play.
"Oh, we always like to have fun," Misty Nix said, standing next to partner Shawn Brown inside their newest offering inside the Crazy Water Hotel Pavilion, Toytopia. "It's a toy store."
Nearby, store manager Elizabeth Stafford was having fun, overseeing Toytopia and its shelves of eye-grabbing, often educational, games and puzzles, friendly stuffed figures and fanciful costumes.
She's not at the register for all of the store hours, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays — but she wouldn't mind it.
"It goes by quick, and nice and fun," the young manager declared.
Brown and Nix say that's exactly what they wanted when they christened their newest retail shop below the sky windows in the cavernous, reclaimed hotel mall.
"We try to bring back stuff that, when you walk in, you go, 'aahhh, I had that when I was little,'" Brown said. "We wanted things that jogged your memory. ... We wanted that magic back. We want these kids to just come in and go, 'Wow.'"
A mix of classic toys, like the 60s classic, Spirograph, line the shop's shelves and walls alongside more recent innovations like STEM kits each exploring the properties of gel, an egg.
"This is all used with household items or whatever is provided in there," Brown said, as her partner noted the box recommendation for ages 8-99.
"If you're 100, you're too old for it," Nix quipped, passing a display of half-sized fishing rods kids can cast. "They are tangle-free, they do not tangle."
Costumes for a princess, an astronaut, even a dinosaur should add fun to any kid's Halloween.
Wooden Hape train sets connect cars with magnets. Puzzles based on four- or five-letter words introduce young minds to reading, such as b-e-a-r, with a letter on each of four pieces which also combine in a picture of the bear.
"It's a creative store," Nix said. "We want kids to be creative and use their imaginations — be active."
And visitors can easily catch themselves staring at the six-foot tall Ferris wheel as it goes round and round below an elevated train on a track that circles inside and outside in the pavilion.
"Everywhere we go, we find the best toy store," Brown said. "We've been in toy stores and been like, we like this one but don't like this piece of it."
Relaxing a moment at the Crazy Coffee & Water Bar, the pair reflected on their ongoing retail project. A year-round Christmas Magic store should open on Sept. 15, and The Uptown Man will make every Ram look sharp by Oct. 1.
It all began down the street in 2018, when Nix and her husband, Randy, opened The Market at 76067 and Coffee & Cocktails. That's when Brown and her husband, Bobby, arrived.
"People thought we were crazy for going to Mineral Wells," Brown said. "I said, No. There was a vibe, or something, going on."
Nix explained.
"We are bringing the experience," Nix said. "Our goal is to bring people to Mineral Wells, and I feel like we've succeeded."
