{"id":205134,"date":"2015-06-26T06:06:32","date_gmt":"2015-06-25T20:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=205134"},"modified":"2015-06-26T06:06:32","modified_gmt":"2015-06-25T20:06:32","slug":"for-the-love-of-toys-new-store-kid-stuff-opens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/for-the-love-of-toys-new-store-kid-stuff-opens\/","title":{"rendered":"For the love of toys: New store \u2018Kid Stuff!\u2019 opens"},"content":{"rendered":"

As owner Robert Hunter simply puts it, \u201cWho doesn\u2019t love toys?\u201d<\/p>\n

However, setting up the newest toy store on island is not about\u2014or at least not only about\u2014his love of toys.<\/p>\n

Opening up \u201cKid Stuff!\u201d at the USL Building in Middle Road, Gualo Rai just last Saturday comes with a promise from Hunter.
\n

\"In<\/a>
In his \u201clittle toy store,\u201d Hunter hopes to bring to the community quality but cheaper priced toys. He said he wanted to prove that marking up toys three or four times high is not necessary. (Frauleine S. Villanueva)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n
\"Kid<\/a>
Kid Stuff! owner Robert Hunter and his \u201cconsultants\u201d in what toys to sell in Saipan\u2019s newest toy store. (Frauleine S. Villanueva)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAfter years of trying to find reasonably priced toys on Saipan for our own kids, and feeling a bit guilty when we’d order online, we decided that we wanted to open a toy store with the goal of keeping prices as close to Internet prices as possible, making on-island shopping for toys a bit easier for parents, and keeping more money on the island,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

Toys for everyone<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe also did not want to sacrifice the quality of toys that we sell for price.\u00a0 We have worked to source the best toys possible, the most popular brand names, and in a wide variety,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Right now, Kids Stuff! has an assortment of toy offerings from Monster High to Lalaloopsy Dolls, to Marvel and other action figures, to Legos, to Imaginext, to Bigwheels, even skateboards and quadcopters and a whole lot more.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Hunter, kids in his family, which are mostly girls, are his consultants in what toys should they sell but he said he\u2019d be willing to take requests from customers as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a Facebook page, where some of the Kid Stuff! merchandise can be viewed and we invite people to let us know what items they would like to see in the shop,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Of museums and childhood<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the love of toys runs more deeply in Hunter\u2019s blood, too.<\/p>\n

For the community, Hunter is known as the executive director of the Northern Mariana Islands Museum of History and Culture. But it\u2019s not the first museum he has worked in.<\/p>\n

As a kid, he grew up visiting his grandmother\u2019s toy museum and eventually, working at her toy store as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandmother also had a toy store and toy museum for over 40 years. My mom had run the store for a time when we were kids, and I’d worked there when I was in high school and before heading off to college,\u201d Hunter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the opportunity to go on buying trips with her, visiting manufacturers and placing orders.\u00a0 It was something I very much enjoyed,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Because of this experience, even though he never thought he\u2019d be opening a toy store, running one didn\u2019t become much of a problem.<\/p>\n

Hunter hopes for the store to become a part of the community in the long run.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to see growth over the months and years that includes an area for storytelling and crafting, and game nights, a used toy sales area, and that we are able to help with seasonal toy drives to get toys to kids who might not otherwise get toys,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kids Stuff! currently operates from 5pm to 9pm on Mondays through Fridays, and 10am to 8pm on Saturdays. Hunter says they will be expanding weekday hours soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As owner Robert Hunter simply puts it, \u201cWho doesn\u2019t love toys?\u201d However, setting up the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":205135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5698,5699,4330,133],"class_list":["post-205134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-kid-stuff","tag-kids-stuff","tag-robert-hunter","tag-run"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}