> Often the brick & mortar price is identical after shipping costs. The competitive advantage of a good mom & pop toy store is a specialized, curated selection

> Often the brick & mortar price is identical after shipping costs. The competitive advantage of a good mom & pop toy store is a specialized, curated selection of unique merchandise. I think their main advantage is not the curation but the availability. You can plan a trip to the toy shop, agree to a budget, go and play with toys, choose something in budget, and go home with a toy. This is a way better parent-child bonding experience than scrolling through pages of licensed junk together & then waiting 2-3 days. Re curation: most good toy stores have the same sort of stuff. Most 'boutique' 'niche' ones have expensive crap for idiots with money. Protip: your kids will play with toys until they break, don't buy that miniature replica Miele vacuum cleaner toy for $200 unless you don't mind throwing it away in 3 months. Museum shops seem to follow the 'specialized, curated selection of unique merchandise' of children's toys.