The Moneris Merchant Scoop: Gingerbread Toys

The Moneris^® Merchant Scoop Series is dedicated to highlighting Canadian businesses thriving amidst an ever-changing landscape. Featuring exclusive interviews, learn more about the entrepreneurs behind the scenes, their stories of how they got their businesses off the ground, what it really takes to achieve success, and what the next steps could look like for a resilient future.

In 1989, Nancy Condon noticed a lack of local toy stores in her home of Terrace, British Columbia. 

As a mother, she didn’t understand why she couldn’t access good quality toys for her children. So, with the help of a good friend, they decided to invest money towards opening their own toy shop in the same year, which they called Gingerbread Playhouse. 

The shop later closed in 1999, but two years earlier in 1997, Nancy made the decision to open a new toy shop. This time in Prince George, British Columbia, which she called Gingerbread Toys. She successfully ran this business for 10 years, later moving the shop to a new location in 2007. To this day, she continues to run the business from this location.

Today, Gingerbread Toys carries a wide selection of quality toys for all ages – from skill-building and developmental toys for infants and toddlers, to puzzles, arts and crafts, and educational activities for older children and families. The shop also carries toys and figurines for avid collectors and toy enthusiasts, like the infamous Schleich animal and dinosaur figurines (which was released around the 1950s), wooden train sets, and more. 

Why Gingerbread Toys chose Moneris as their preferred payment provider

When Gingerbread Toys first opened its doors in the late 90s, the store used manual payment machines and cash for all transactions. One day, after a conversation with their financial institution, Nancy recalled being introduced to Moneris.

At the time, there weren’t too many options for payment processors that Nancy could choose from. But even as payments evolved over the years, she never felt it was necessary to make a change. She stuck by her decision to remain with Moneris.

“We’ve been with Moneris since the beginning. They were just the way to go. In recent years, we’ve received a lot of calls from alternative payment processors, selling us their business and telling us why we should switch over. But everything has been running smoothly, especially in the last year, and we’re happy with our experience.”

What’s Next?

Nancy is satisfied with where the business is today, and incredibly proud of how much it has grown over the years – especially its impact on the community. Gingerbread Toys has supported various community initiatives, such as their work with Sight & Sound – a music store in Terrace, where they supply instrument rentals to local schools. They also support a variety of local daycare centers supplying toys, and numerous corporate social initiatives with toy drives. 

This year, Nancy will be entering her late 60’s and is hoping to retire soon. Maybe even sell the business.  “But it’s a hard thing to let go of, it’s like my child. And everyone in the toy store business has just been so nice to us. It will be hard to walk away from it, one day,” said Nancy.

To learn more about their journey, read the full story here. 

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