We are continuing our safe, cautious return to business. July 2nd stores resume regular hours. Makin' Faces Returns with "Off the Face" Painting! And, we bring back some contactless demo products in the coming weeks. 

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What’s it like to re-open?

I’ve been asked this question fairly regularly over the past week. Some people are concerned for us, others curious, and the rest likely think it’s what they should be asking right now. Whatever the case... thank you for asking!

For us, the re-opening was hardly a ‘back to work’ moment. Stephanie and I - along with sidekick Cassandra - have been working as much, if not more than ever, during this crisis. Everything takes longer, is less impactful and seems to take more brain power than it used to.

We spent a lot of time planning for re-opening. You can’t plan for everything, but you can have procedures in place and do your best to communicate them to your team and your customers. That has been our focus. It has been wonderful having our team members start coming back to work. We’ve missed them - whether they’ve worked for us for months and years, or in the case of our team in Fergus only a few days before closure. It’s also been so nice to see and hear from so many of our wonderful customers!

What are the customers like? This question, when asked, tends to be a way of asking what to expect when coming to the store. I’ve been working out of Fergus as we get our location there going, but checking in with the team in Erin usually a few times a day. We have been significantly limiting public access and have put in place quite a few what I think are reasonable precautions, and by and large customers both inside and outside of our stores have been cooperating. Like everywhere, there are those that feel it’s all over or doesn’t impact them and any precaution is excessive, there are those that are very nervous and hesitant to come into a store - and most people are somewhere in between. We are aiming to keep everyone - no matter where they are at in that spectrum - as comfortable with our environment as possible, and hopefully are being successful with that. It has certainly been wonderful to be able to focus on customer service in person again.

On that note, there is of course the ‘wonderful’ Facebook groups replete with conversation about reopening. I follow quite a few in both communities and there are a lot of opinions, and I have no intention of ‘going there’ on the topics of masks or anything else. All I will say is could we please recognize that businesses are REQUIRED to have precautions and procedures in place to be allowed to be open. If we don’t have them in place and do what we can to ensure they are executed, we are not allowed to be open. It’s that simple.

That being said we can only do so much in terms of enforcement. We need you to help us to stay open. How? Pretty simple... I don’t care if there are markings and posters or not, PRACTICE PHYSICAL DISTANCING. We have markings here in our stores to help but it’s not possible to have them in all places throughout the community or even at all businesses... but let’s be honest, I really think we can figure out keeping at least 6 feet apart to respect one another, whether there are marks on the ground or not.

Aside from that a lot of our energy is about trying to stay focused on the long game. Early in the crisis we recognized this was going to take a financial toll and secured access to a fairly significant amount of additional business debt so we can carry through the short term while ensuring that our team, suppliers and other financial obligations are met. We just have to hope and plan that we can get revenues back in balance with expenses. If this drags on long term we - like many, many other businesses - won’t have the debt capacity to survive.

What’s next? I cycle between cautious optimism and pessimistic planning. Sometimes I think it’s time to schedule the team all the way until July, other times I’m thinking about what we’re going to do if that scale back order comes and we have to close, as the numbers continue to climb.

Most importantly, let’s all stay healthy and safe! Continue reading

I want to share a few 'thoughts' with you on my own personal experiences as we navigate through this challenging time. You might ask, isn’t a little soon to be writing this? You bet! However, it doesn’t hurt to think ahead and I anticipate that my next few weeks are going to be very busy as we get ready to operate in the ‘new normal’. I do also have a few shout outs interspersed, although his is far from an exhaustive list of the many people who have supported us! Continue reading

At end of day on March 23rd Brighten Up closed our retail stores. We also made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend online or delivery options as well. While we were aware that this measure was more extensive than those taken by some other businesses, we believed it was necessary to initiate a complete shut-down of all of our operations in the short-term.

 

We appreciate that most customers have respected our decision to keep ourselves, our employees and our customers safe as a top priority without rushing into any new service options without proper time and consideration. Myself, Stephanie and Baby Cassandra have been following a strict physical and social distancing protocol since being closed. We have also used that time to consider our role and contribution to community, to engage with and understand social and physical distancing to the best of our ability, and to educate ourselves through the ever-changing information provided by health professionals and government leaders. Given the nature of our business, we were exposed to a significant number of members of the public during the days and weeks leading up to our closure, and it was very important to us to be able to monitor our own health so that we did not take any actions – including making any deliveries – that may have placed the health and well-being of others in jeopardy.

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In light of COVID-19 we have decided to move our in-store Easter Colouring contest online to give the kids (& adults) a fun activity to do safely at home!

Instructions:
- Print out the image
- Colour, decorate, design... have fun and be creative!
- Snap a picture of your finished result and post it to our Facebook page. Make sure to tell us whether you are from Erin or Fergus!

 

 

 

For DAILY activities, fun and conversation during our period of non-essential business closure, follow us at: https://www.facebook.com/brightenuptoysandgames

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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

 

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The social and economic situation related to COVID-19 continues to evolve quickly, and please be assured that we are monitoring updates closely. The following measures are being immediately implemented. However, as we are in uncharted territory, we appreciate your patience should changes need to be made with little or no advance notice.

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We will be opening in Fergus for a soft opening period – tentatively planned for during the weeks of March 16th, 23rd and 30th. Then, SAVE THE DATE Grand Opening ~ April 4

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Brighten Up Toys and Games will be joining the Fergus Community! We are working to provide a smooth transition from Jester’s Fun Factory to Brighten Up Toys & Games, ensuring that Fergus continues to enjoy the fun and engagement provided by an independent Toy and Game Store! 

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On January 17th Brighten Up will celebrate our 8th birthday! We officially opened our doors on January 17th, 2012 and have loved every minute of serving our community in the Town of Erin and surrounding areas. We have built and grown our business in ways we could never have foreseen or dreamed.  Continue reading