Good Deeds Get Rewarded!

Last week our son Jake turned into a local hero when he found someones lost caravan keys in the High Street.  Fortunately the rightful owners were found and they were returned to them, much to their delight and relief.  They were in such a tizz at the time and so pleased that they wouldn't have an expensive repair breaking into their holiday home, that they forgot to note the shop where they'd managed to get back their lost keys.

It was a wonderful surprise when they contacted us on our website via our virtual assistant, and managed to establish that The Hub was the shop where "the owners wee boy" had handed in the lost keys.  As he'd been such a hero, they wanted to say thank you and used the website and our free collect at store service to order some LEGO Hero Factory as a treat for him.  Needless to say, Jake was over the moon that his good deed was rewarded and of course next time the family are visiting their holiday home they'll be sure to take a spare set of keys with them everywhere!  

  

Spring!

What a week! Looking back at our Facebook page we go from posts about needing sunglasses and wishing for ice cream to driving to work through snow and rushing the sledges from our warehouse back to the shop.




The good news is that the bright weather seems to be back, and although it's cold, the snow is melting.
At least you can always be sure of a warm welcome from us at The Hub, even if the Scottish weather cant decide if it's Winter or Spring.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Dunblane

Birthdays Wrapped Up!

Just about every parent I know is busy.  Some are uber organised with calendars to keep track of every social event their little one is due to attend, others have fridge doors crammed full of handouts from school, party invitations, reminders for community events not to mention the latest paint splodged masterpiece from school.  No matter how organised (or how disorganised) we are though, at one point or another most of us have experienced the horror of finding a crumpled invite at the bottom of the school bag, or a forgotten party invitation hidden behind the car tax reminder stuck to the fridge!  That sense of panic is multiplied when you realise that in just a few hours you'll need to turn up at the forgotten party with a wrapped gift and card for the birthday girl/boy that doesn't look like it was a last minute thought.  

 

That's why we offer a one stop shop at The Hub to help you with party gifts.   From giving gift advice on the latest must-have toys to our fabulous range of retro cards & gift-wrap and personalised gift vouchers.  We have everything you need under one roof to make sure birthdays go smoothly, whether bought in advance....or on the way!

Scandalous Skylanders

Many of our regular customers will know that we have a policy in The Hub - we sell everything on our website and in store at the recommended selling price (or sometimes below).  Whether it's a large item like the LEGO Super Heroes Batcave or the latest collectable craze, such as Moshi Monster bracelets & charmlings we are careful to stay within manufacturer guidelines.  

LEGO Super Heroes 6860 Batcave

One of the latest, most desperately sought after toys of 2012 so far has been Skylanders.  We pre-ordered these a few months ago and finally received a  small shipment of wave 3 Skylanders earlier this week which we launched via our Facebook page.  They've been so hard to get hold of that in recent weeks we've seen other businesses selling them for scandalous prices way over the £7.99 & £19.99 suggested price points.  A pattern that we've seen repeat itself at various times of the year as the latest hot property gets snapped up.  As parents ourselves we empathise with the need to get your hands on the latest "must-have" toy, but also the desire to buy at a good price without feeling ripped off by someone trying to make a quick buck. 

Skylanders Triple Pack featuring Drobot, Flameslinger & Stump Smash - £19.99

One of our suppliers has commented recently that we are "the most ethical toy retailer they've ever dealt with" because of this policy.  This surprised us, we'd never really thought of this policy as being ethical - just an extension of our own core values as parents & consumers ourselves.  We guess this is one of things that sets us apart from some of the other places you can buy toys and will be one of the main reasons that our customers love coming back to see us again, and again, and again!

Its a strange talent!

Recently we've been getting a bit of a reputation!  You see we've developed a bit of a talent in The Hub, for being able to feel through the blind bags of collectable figures and know, or rather be 99.9% sure of whats inside.

LEGO Minifigures Series 6

In particular this strange talent lends itself very well to the current series 6 of LEGO minifigures.  We've lost count of the number of delighted kids who've left our shop overjoyed when we've felt through the bag and sought out Lady Liberty or the Robot to help them finish off their collection.  We're even getting feedback on The Hub Facebook page calling us "a true minifigure identifying genius"!  

Just in case we don't always get it right we have a little back-up plan.  We've set up a LEGO Minifigure Trading post using one of the fantastic LEGO Minfigure Display Cases we sell.  It has pride of place on our counter and kids can come in and trade the current series if they want to get a particular character. However, with our new found talent, it's not always needed!

Busman's Holiday

Today The Hub Team have utilised the half-term break to head down to Blackpool to see one of our main suppliers. The idea is to get ahead of things and get our Christmas order organised well in advance. We set off this morning full of promises of sea views and a challenge to go to the top of Blackpool Tower (not easy when one of the main members of them team suffers from vertigo). However, upon arrival we've been greeted with the thickest pea soup we've ever seen and a view from the room overlooking the car park.
Unperturbed we've had fun messing about in the hotel swimming pool and have plans for a seaside walk after dinner (even if we can't see the sea). Tomorrow we're all hoping it will brighten up and our two wee elves are looking forward to helping select Santa's top picks for 2012.




Whatever you are doing this half-term we hope it doesn't involve too much work & you get the chance to enjoy some of the holiday!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Hilton Blackpool

LEGO VIP Launch Event

As many of you will know we had a wee family holiday over the Christmas period heading off to sunnier climbs in Orlando, Florida.  Whilst we were away we really enjoyed the superb customer service offered by the various theme parks, restaurants and shops. 

This experience has really inspired us and we've made a number of changes straight away to our own business.  This has started with us organising our own wee "Thank You" event for our customers that have supported us over the past 20 months as we've expanded and grown.  On the 11th January we announced our first ever LEGO VIP event on Facebook and were delighted when the event sold out in less than 24hrs!  

On the 15th January we held our first invitation only LEGO VIP Event - with a resounding success!  Invitees got the chance to have hands on experience with some of the new LEGO sets, including LEGO Dino, LEGO Friends and LEGO Super Heroes.  Jake (chief toytester and No1 son) was in charge of the Ninjago demonstration area and delighted in showing everyone how to get the most out of the new green LEGO Ninjago spinners & booster packs.  We also has some competitions to win some great LEGO goodies and of course everyone left with a wee goodie bag to say thanks for coming!   

We had a fantastic day, and feedback so far shows that everyone who made it along had a great time (although we really do need more space).  It's spurred us on to do more of this kind of thing and keep changing and growing the products & services we offer.  It's also shown us that you never know where the next spark of inspiration will come from!

We want to make sure that you are delighted with your experience when you shop at The Hub, whether in-store or online.  So give us your feedback here, on our facebook page, on twitter or next time you are in store so we can keep giving you a local shop with customer service you love!