It's time to CELEBRATE! Brighten Up is turning 11 years old on January 17th.

For such a BIG birthday, we need more than one day - we are going to celebrate for 11 days, by giving you deals and promotions on some of our favourite products and brands! Watch our social media each day (or check out in store) for the daily celebration deal.

For a taste, here's deal #1 (valid only on Tuesday January 17th):

FREE GIFT FOR YOU! Get a free Kid's Snow Shovel (approx. $10 value) with the purchase of any sled.

*Birthday deals are valid only on the day they are promoted. Instore only, not applicable to online orders. Cannot be combined with any other offer and deals are not transferable to previous purchases.*

Are you a puzzle lover? So are we!

World Puzzle Day is coming up on January 29th, and we are celebrating with a special promotion of 25% off on all in-stock Ravensburger Puzzles in all piece counts. Jan 14-29th ONLY!

Let's be social about puzzles! Remember to tag us @brightenuptoysandgames and Ravensburger @ravensburgerna

#RavensburgerPuzzleMonth
#CelebratewithRavensburger

Hello readers!

With only a week to go until the big day, I wanted to drop in and say THANK YOU for all your support this holiday season. My team and I know this season is a tough one for so many, and your choice to support us means so much to us.

Everyone on the Brighten Up team has been working very hard to keep our stores stocked and tidy, and to provide you with assistance and recommendations. I am so lucky to have such a committed group of passionate individuals working with us and we really appreciate all of your feedback and appreciation throughout the season, and all year long. 

The good news is that we still have GREAT GIFTS IN STOCK! No need to worry about the rest of your gift giving list, we have made sure to hold strong inventory levels so that you can count on us all the way up until Christmas (and beyond) for fun, engaging and thoughtful items. Stop by and we will be happy to assist you.

Don't forget that our extended hours continue this week:
All Weekend 9am-6pm
Monday-Friday this Coming Week 9am-8pm
Christmas Eve (next Saturday) 8am-4pm

Are you still looking for some inspiration? Be sure to take a flip through our 2022-23 Holiday Favourites Flyer. This year has an excellent line up for all ages. We hope you will check it out and be as excited as we are by the fun toys, games and more!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

All the very best for a happy and 'bright' holiday season from your Brighten Up Friends - Chris, Stephanie, Cassandra, Anastasia, Luke, Natalie, Eleanor, Jordan, Sam, Adam, Theo, Kirsten, Lisa, Milica, Lily and Mark

As our regulars know, toy drives are very close to our hearts at Brighten Up. We are so pleased to be able to continue with, and expand upon, this important giving program in our communities this year.

One of our favourite parts of our toy drives are our annual Pictures with Santa! 

Hello readers!

We are so excited to reveal this year's 2022-23 Holiday Favourites Flyer. This year has an excellent line up for all ages. We hope you will check it out and be as excited as we are by thee fun toys, games and more! 

We will also be doing a flyer launch event this coming weekend, stay tuned to our social media channels and email blast for more details. 

In the meantime, check it out...

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

Good Morning!

Here we are, at the half way mark of the Kids Zone at the Erin Fair - one of the largest events we participate in. It's quite a change from this time last year!

A huge thanks to everyone who has come out to support our events this year, large and small. We really kicked it off with our March Break drop in activities, followed by Easter, and then took things up a notch with the Fergus Medieval Faire Kids Zone and RCMP Musical Ride this summer. It has been a blast!

The one thing that has struck me is the question on so many people's lips when they speak to me this weekend... 'so, does it feel back to normal?' Yes, and decidedly also no. The mechanics are very much the same as the 'before times', the people are back and having fun, and so are we. Of course, on our side it's plus two little Baileys! However, we have all gone through the past couple of years and none of us are truly the same. That's ok. We are learning how to have fun all over again. Keep at it... we sure are!

See you soon!

- Chris

As printed in the Grand River Booster

People always ask us if we have fun owning a toy store. No, we don’t have fun — we have a blast! We at Brighten Up Toys & Games pride ourselves in keeping up with the latest products — we are always learning and trying out new toys and games. This helps us give our customers good and honest recommendations. You may not realize that behind-the-scenes, we are always testing out new products as a team at our staff meetings so we can offer our customers the very best selection.

Did you know that much of our product selection and buying happens months in advance? Many of our manufacturers even look to us for input to help guide their decisions on production and marketing.

We frequently attend trade shows and conferences to learn about products and help guide product selection. In fact, we just attended a two-day conference on new games and trading cards/collectibles this past weekend. These conferences are so much fun and they really help guide our business forward.

My favourite thing is selecting new games! However, it can get a bit confusing because often the games on my mind and under review are a few months away, so I also have to keep myself present with the games coming out right now and in stock that our customers will be interested in purchasing. It’s an interesting balance!

Our team enjoys selecting their own top picks and we always ask for their feedback on products, sometimes even those that are under consideration. Here are their top picks:

King of the Dice Boardgame — Players must collect cards by rolling and re-rolling dice. Place castles, gemstones and dragon fi res on the game boards. The player with the most points wins. This fun game is for ages 8 and up, for 2 to 4 players.

Mythfits — Looking for a family strategy game? Whoever says Bigfoot isn’t real hasn’t played Mythfits. Build a path to collect your creatures and even take photos of your opponents’ creatures to win. For ages 8 and up, 2 to 4 players.

Walkie Talkie — Win together, or don’t win at all. In this cooperative game, players have a limited time to get rid of all their cards. If they manage to do so, then they beat the game and record their score. Ages 8 and up, for 2 to 8 players.

We hope to see you soon at our store. Check out our two locations, 735 Tower St. S. in Fergus and 67 Main St. in Erin.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates. Also, visit brightneuptoysandgames.ca