Costco isn’t the only Stavanger Drive retailer moving west.
Bricks and Minifigs, the one-stop shop for all things Lego in this province and the only one of its kind in Canada, has closed its east end location in favour of a new home just off Blackmarsh Road in the centre city area of St. John’s.
Co-owner John Gillingham, a lifelong lover of Lego who bought into the franchise with a business partner in June of 2016, says the move is logistical more than anything.
“There was a lot of wasted space in our last location, it just wasn't needed,” says Gillingham, who says the corporate office made suggestions around standard square footage when they were getting the operation off the ground.
“All the other stores in the United States were in a million-plus population centres and this is something that's more realistic for our population.
“I mean, it looked great, it was a beautiful location and people loved it, but I think this location, while it is smaller, is going to work a lot better for the community we have here.”
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The new location is located at the corner of Blackmarsh Road and Symonds Avenue, on the opposite corner from an Ultramar gas bar, in a commercial property below Campbell Rent-Alls. Current plaza neighbours include St. Pat’s Lanes and Breakaway Inc. women against violence donation centre and thrift store, but there’s also a Beagle Paws thrift shot set to move in next door and a secondhand furniture store one door down from that.
Gillingham knows they’ll lose a certain amount of drive-by traffic by not remaining in the bustling commercial district, but he figures a little advertising through social media and by word of mouth among the regular customers will go a long way in attracting people to the new spot.
“And we have a fairly large customer base now that will follow us,” he says.
“Unfortunately, whenever you move, you're going to move further away from some of your customers, but you're also going to move closer to others.”
As for the business itself, everything stays the same, so what customers saw on Stavanger they’ll also see at Symonds. Likewise, Bricks and Minifigs will continue to do birthday parties.
Barring any unforeseen challenges, Gillingham says the new store will be open Saturday morning.
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