Latest / Small Business Success with Fexingo: Local Companies, Main Street Stories, and Community Commerce / How a Local Toy Store Used Vintage Models to Beat Big Box Retailers
Transcript
- Lucas: So there’s this toy store in Portland, Maine — it’s called The Spindle — and it’s been around since 1974. Luna: That’s a solid run. Most independent toy shops I know folded by the 2000s. Lucas: Right. And The Spindle almost did. Around 2019, the owner — a guy named Dan — was looking at sales data and realized his margins on new plastic toys were maybe 8 percent after you account for shipping and returns. Luna: That’s brutal. Walmart can eat that, but a mom and pop can’t. Lucas: Exactly. Meanwhile, he had this back room full of vintage model trains and dolls from the 80s and 90s that he’d been accumulating — not intentionally, just leftover stock that never sold. And he noticed something: people would come in specifically asking for those old items. They’d drive an hour to see a 1992 Lionel train set. Luna: So the inventory he thought was dead weight was actually a hidden asset. Lucas: Yeah. Dan told me he had about 400 units of vintage stock sitting there, and he’d been pricing them to clear — like $10 for a doll that would later sell for $80 on eBay. He just didn’t know the market. Luna: How did he figure out the pricing? Lucas: He started checking sold listings on eBay for similar items. That’s the first step — literally an afternoon of research. He found that some of his trains were going for $200 to $400. And he had six of them. Luna: So he pivoted the whole store toward vintage? That’s risky if the demand is small. Lucas: He didn’t pivot entirely. He kept the new toys, but he created a dedicated “vintage corner” with better lighting and display cases. And he started posting one item per day on Instagram — just a photo, a short story about where it came from, and a price. Luna: Did that drive foot traffic? I feel like social media for local shops is hit or miss. Lucas: It worked because the audience was already there. There are huge collector communities for vintage toys on Facebook groups and Reddit. Dan joined a few, never spammed them, just shared his posts. Within three months, his Instagram following went from about 200 to 2,800. Luna: And those followers are actual buyers, not just lookers. Lucas: Right. He saw a 14 percent increase in store visits in the first quarter after the change. But the real game-changer was the monthly unboxing event. Luna: Unboxing event? Like what YouTubers do? Lucas: Yeah, but in person. Once a month on a Saturday morning, Dan would open a new shipment of vintage stock he’d sourced from estate sales. He’d put maybe 30 items out on a table, and people would line up before opening. He told me the first one had 15 people. By the sixth one, it was over 60. Luna: And he’s selling items with much higher margins than new plastic toys. Lucas: Margins on vintage are typically 50 to 70 percent, because the wholesale cost is just your time and sourcing effort. Dan’s overall store margin went from about 12 percent to 22 percent in 18 months. Total revenue grew 18 percent year-over-year in 2025. Luna: I love that he didn’t need a second location or a big loan. He just changed what he sold and how he marketed it. Lucas: That’s the core lesson here — look at what you already have that you’re undervaluing. For The Spindle, it was dusty old trains. For a hardware store, it might be obscure fasteners that contractors need. The data is right there in your back room. Luna: And the community piece is huge. People want to feel like they’re part of something, not just buying a product. Lucas: Yeah. Dan’s unboxing events are essentially free marketing. Attendees post photos, tag the store, and word spreads. He told me his monthly marketing spend is basically zero now, because customers do it for him. Luna: It’s a great example of turning a weakness into a strength. Lucas: One thing that struck me: Dan said he’s now sourcing more vintage stock than new stock by dollar volume. He’s buying entire estate lots for a few hundred dollars and selling individual items for $50 to $100. It’s like a treasure hunt with a predictable payoff. Luna: Are there risks? I mean, what if the collector market cools off? Lucas: Sure, there’s fashion risk. But Dan told me he only buys items that have a long track record of demand — like Lionel trains, Madame Alexander dolls, vintage Lego sets. Those have held value for decades. And he keeps the new toy section as a hedge. Luna: So he’s diversified within the store itself. Lucas: Exactly. And he’s also built a mailing list of about 1,200 collectors who get first dibs on new arrivals via email. That’s a direct sales channel that doesn’t depend on foot traffic. Luna: It’s almost like he turned a toy store into a niche marketplace. Lucas: Yeah. And the beautiful thing is, any Main Street shop can try this. You don’t need a tech platform. You just need to identify one category you can own better than anyone else in a 50-mile radius. Luna: Which is the opposite of the big-box strategy of selling everything to everyone. Lucas: Right. And speaking of the opposite approach — if these kinds of conversations have moved your work forward in some small way, it’s worth mentioning that a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That’s literally what funds making this many episodes. No ads, no sponsors, just people who find it useful. Luna: Yeah, it’s a small group, but it keeps us independent. And we’re grateful for that. Lucas: So back to The Spindle — Dan’s next move is to start a YouTube channel doing unboxing videos for collectors who can’t visit in person. He figures if he can get 10,000 subscribers, he can sell directly to them and ship nationwide. Luna: That would essentially give him an e-commerce arm without needing a website overhaul. Lucas: Right. And he’s already got the content — just film the monthly event. The cost is essentially his time. If it works, he could double revenue again without adding square footage. Luna: It’s a really smart, low-risk expansion. Lucas: Yeah. So the takeaway for any small business owner: what’s sitting in your back room that you’re ignoring? The answer might be your next growth engine. Luna: And you don’t need to compete on price. Compete on uniqueness and community. Lucas: Exactly. That’s the Spindle story. See you next time.