Talking Shop with My Small World
My Small World founder Dawn Burden takes a values-based approach to crafting a special shopping experience for customers seeking unique gifts for children.
We talked to Dawn and sales assistant Romilly to learn more about how they create retail magic.
Dawn Burden, founder of Bath toy shop My Small World, is a glass-half-full kind of person. Some might say that’s an essential quality for anyone operating as an independent retailer in the current economic climate, but the My Small World team has a lot to feel positive about.
The business has built a loyal customer base since it opened in 2005, spanning the generations. The shop is Bath’s go-to destination for parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles seeking out exceptional toys, games and books for the little people in their lives.
“We’re very good at making people the favourite auntie or uncle,” says Dawn. “The lifespan for our customers is usually about eight or nine years. You’ll start off buying for your nieces or nephews and then you’re buying for your own children. We’re now starting to see children who were in the shop when we opened in 2005, coming back as adults with their own babies!”
“I wanted a shop where you could find all the beautiful things in one place.”
Dawn launched My Small World when her own two children were both under five. She couldn’t find anywhere dedicated to selling beautifully designed, unique toys for children. So, she had a vision of her own.
“I wanted a shop where you could find all the beautiful things in one place,” Dawn explains. “I come from a theatre background so I wanted to think about how people would feel when they came in. I was keen to create this amazing environment, where people feel really welcome and where children are allowed to play.”
“Kindness is everything. We run on it, it’s our superpower.”
Now, 20 years later, the business has taken on a life of its own, shaped by a creative team of passionate people who all have one quality in common.
“Kindness is everything. We run on it, it’s our superpower,” says Dawn. “We talk about the shop floor as being like our living room, and we want people coming into our space to be comfortable and happy and that takes a certain sort of person. You can teach someone practical things but what you can’t teach is a real connection to people.
“Our staff don’t always have a background in toy selling, they just really enjoy people. I don’t think a day goes by when someone doesn’t have an amazing conversation with a customer who comes in or has discovered something incredible on the shop floor. It takes a certain sort of person who can be excited by an amazing book or a tiny little mouse,” she says.
“We’re not interested in run-of-the-mill, and we’re not interested in fads.”
Dawn and her team have exacting standards for the products they select for their shop. Part of what makes them successful is offering customers items you can’t easily get elsewhere, and that sometimes means taking bold decisions about what they won’t sell.
“We must love them. We’re not interested in run-of-the-mill, and we’re not interested in fads. We don’t do anything licensed. We want amazing design. Products need to be really robust. Everything in the shop is pretty much on display, so items need to take being played with constantly by lots of children. We’re looking for quality and we want to see some personality or quirk,” she says.
This approach extends to the books selected for the store. Unlike others in the children’s retail space, the My Small World team is not interested in selling popular bestsellers by well-known authors. Instead, they are drawn to beautifully produced immersive books that take young readers into different worlds.
“I really wanted to create a sort of sweet shop of books."
Books they like to sell include Robert Sabuda’s Pop-Up creations (left), the Story Orchestra series, illustrated fact hardbacks, such as the Animalium books and the Scanimation picture books. For sales assistant and creative writing student Romilly, she’s looking for books that offer something extra, to help her interact with customers.
“With the Robert Sabuda books, I love that the animals are made of flocked velvet card. It’s just those little extra things you can share when you’re talking to someone in the shop who’s already in love with it,” she says.
“I really wanted to create a sort of sweet shop of books,” adds Dawn. “That’s how we think about it. We want to give customers something to touch and feel. I got a bespoke bookshelf designed for books because it always drives me mad that books are often spine first.”
“It has to be face-on,” says Romilly. “If you’re little and you’re looking at something from the side, you won’t always be able to read what that is, so it has to be visually eye catching straight away particularly if you’re down at ground level.”
“The fact we can get everything from one place is lovely.”
Dawn works with Bookspeed to build her book range. Previously, she found the process of selecting and ordering books from different publishers to be complicated.
“The fact that we can get everything from one place is lovely. We work closely with Chris, who’s our account manager, and we send him on little detective hunts. For example, there’s an amazing illustrator called Alison Jay. She’s out of print quite a lot, and I decided I wanted her books in the shop, so Chris found those,” says Dawn.
“It’s really easy for us to order often with Bookspeed. I need to order two or three times a week, especially in the run up to Christmas, because we don’t have masses of storage space. Deliveries usually come the next day so we can be really fluid in what we’re ordering.
“And I love speaking with the same people all the time. Half of what I do is creating great relationships with our suppliers so it’s great that when I ring Bookspeed I speak to Chris or if I’m speaking to another member of the team, they know who we are. There’s a care and a personal touch that I really value.”
“I think you have to be laser focused on your customers.”
Books played a role in helping My Small World connect to customers during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Romilly performed book readings on Instagram for the shop’s young customers, mainly to provide some respite for the parents who were at home with their children 24-7.
This drive to consider customers’ needs is what Dawn believes contributes to My Small World’s success throughout some challenging times. That, and maintaining a strong sense of identity and a generous dose of positivity.
“I think you have to be laser focused on your customers. Some of the most brilliant things we’ve ever done or invented have come from us thinking about what we can do to make life easier for people with children,” she says.
“But I think you always need to remember what you started with and what your core values are – these are the things that will carry you through when things have been really difficult. That’s been my experience through the 2008 recession and through Covid, which was the scariest time to be a business owner that I’ve experienced.
“The general retail climate looks a little shaky right now, but I think you can be weighed down by what might happen. I think there can be an element of panicking before panicking is due and I’ve seen some lovely independent stores suddenly start thinking they need to have the latest Legos or Playmobil and diluting their offering. Some of the answers are about being positive and looking for your opportunities rather than looking for your anchors.”
Be inspired by My Small World
- Children’s classic story books
- Children’s fascinating facts
- Love: a pop-up celebration by Robert Sabuda
Work with us
If you would like to partner with us to source and supply book ranges for your retail space, get in touch.
