Effective immediately, all Brighten Up sales both in-store and online have been suspended in response to the Province of Ontario's call for non-essential businesses and services to suspend operations.
We are still available for communications by email and social media! We will do our best to provide you with any remote communication and support possible at this difficult time.
What we sell at Brighten Up is 'essential' in the sense that our products form a major part of many people’s fun, learning, discovery and social activities. Toys, games and puzzles are a part of our health and well-being. However, purchasing from us is not essential during this current time. Don’t get me wrong, we love our business and truly believe we make a positive impact in our community. We encourage you to get out the games, puzzles and activities you already have at home and have fun connecting with one another! We will be here after this crisis to help you find new fun and games! However, at this time it is important that businesses take ownership for whether or not what we do is TRULY critical and time-sensitive. We do not believe the delivery of NEW products to you from our business falls into that definition.
We appreciate your offers of encouragement, support and concern. Stephanie, Cassandra, myself and all of our staff are - like most of you - concerned about how we will sustain ourselves at this time. However, we take seriously the order that non-essential services should shut down.
Can't You Sell to Me Online and Deliver?
Our short answer: not right now. Many people have asked us - why don’t you sell online to keep your business going and your customers happy; demand is high especially for puzzles and activities. We are not ruling out online buying as an option as part of a return to normal, perhaps when the order for non-essential business to close down is no longer in place. However, the reality for our business is that whether we sell our non-essential products in our store or online, it is going to require workers outside of their homes to provide for non-essential (non-critical) wants or needs. We would love to provide for our loyal customers, and continue to grow our network and business, but from our perspective us selling online - while it may be legal and in-keeping with the order - is not in-keeping with the spirit of the order, which is to focus on the critical needs. I want us to focus on minimizing the number of people working outside of their homes, and so we have made the difficult decision to not accept online sales for the time being.
We would still love to hear from you and see how you are spending your days. Drop us an email or interact with us on Facebook. Don't forget to complete your Easter colouring contest and share it with us!
Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding,
Chris, Stephanie, Cassandra and the Brighten Up team