01/30/2025
by Victoria Ritter
The Elvington family has owned and operated hakabohu in Florence, South Carolina, for two generations. Susan Elvington bought the business, then known as The Toy Shop, in 2008; she had been working at the store since she retired from teaching. Susan ran The Toy Shop for about five years before considering her own retirement. At the time, her daughter and son, Brice Elvington were both expanding their respective families.
“We felt the writing was on the wall that she was ready to be a full-time grandmother,” Brice said. “We were terrified that she was going to close the store, and then Florence wouldn’t have this unique toy store in the area.”
Brice and his wife, Kim, bought The Toy Shop in 2014, with Susan continuing to consult with them. It was also a welcome change for Brice. While he originally worked as a chemical engineer for a biotech company, he often found his thoughts drifting toward the toy retail business. When he quit his job in 2010 to help his wife start her own pediatric dental office, he became a “volunteer helper” at the toy store.
“It’s been a great challenge,” he said. “We don’t have any regrets. I know it’s a very much needed service to our community. If they didn’t have this toy store, it would be a disservice to a lot of the kids and families.”
Garments, games and everything in between
Originally, hakabohu sold just games and toys. However, when a local children’s clothing store closed its doors, Brice saw an opportunity to diversify the store’s offerings. hakabohu began with a small order of Mud Pie clothes and grew into a boutique, catering ages from infant to 5 years.
The expanded inventory highlighted the need for more space, so in 2022 hakabohu moved to its current location. The new store has 5,000 square feet, with 4,000 square feet dedicated to retail plus an upstairs area for the stockroom, break room and offices.
Customers entering hakabohu’s doors will find the boutique to the left, stocked with clothing, shoes, a few toys, skincare products and the store’s entire Jellycat collection. Other featured brands include FarmHouse Fresh skin care, Teleties hair accessories and Wee Ones hair bows. “We were thinking if customers are in here buying clothes or toys, they may want to buy these other things as well,” Brice said.
To the right is the toy side, accented with a towering toy t-rex several feet high. There is also a 700-square-foot Hape playland; hakabohu was one of the first specialty stores to acquire the playland. The several thousand SKUs of products are categorized into infant and toddler items, outdoor toys, games, dolls, puzzles and books.
Popular brands include Jellycat – which has taken over most of the store’s plush toy offerings – Hape’s wooden toys, Schleich, Bruder, Green Toys, Melissa & Doug, Corolle, Little Adventures, SmartGames, Djeco, Magna-Tiles and Fat Brain Toys. Bestselling items include CHARM IT! bracelets, NightBall from Tangle, Micro Kickboard scooters, Do-A-Dot markers and coloring books, Sketch Pals from Boogie Board and Flat 2 Fast Card Racer. The Kidoozie Funtime Tractor has been a bestseller for 15 years, according to Brice.
The Elvingtons attend several shows including Toylanta, Astra Marketplace & Academy as well as its Toy Boat. “I base my whole year around the Astra shows,” Brice said, adding he serves on Astra’s board and Innovation Council. “It’s something I look forward to. It’s where I met new people. And they allow kids to come to the shows, so my family is welcome to go.”
Brice has observed a few interesting trends in the past few months. The interest in Jellycat has “exploded,” bringing in teens and college students into the store. Sensory products for anxious kids and adults continue to sell well. He has also sensed that people want to do more activities as a family, gravitating towards puzzles, games and outdoor play.
“Books seem to have really come back,” he added. “We have a lot of people who come in specifically for books, or it makes a good add-on to a sale. People seem to really like bundles. When we post something or when we have a special where we’ve put three or four things together, they’ll buy them all as a gift for someone.”
Reaching out to the community
Brice offers plenty of reasons for customers to see what’s in store at hakabohu. As the new store is situated next to Kim’s pediatric dental office, the Elvingtons provide $5 gift cards and discount coupons to hakabohu at the dental practice. hakabohu also offers birthday buckets, baby baskets and registries which garner the attention of out-of-town relatives looking for gift ideas.
The store hosts special occasions such as birthday parties, coin collecting meets, smart game challenges and trivia nights in its event room. A friend who runs a character business can be counted on to schedule princesses or superheroes to make an appearance. “Most of the time, when there’s a character involved, the event does well,” Brice observed.
Looking ahead, Brice plans to schedule more events at the store. While attendance varies, he has seen how the events draw in new customers and boost sales.
“I would call 2024 flat,” Brice said. “But we’re excited about the opportunities for 2025 – not just with the toys, but with events and activities and learning from what worked and what didn’t.”
hakabohu makes an effort to pay it forward in the local area, thus getting on more people’s radars and make a personal connection with others. On the Sunday before Christmas – one of the store’s biggest shopping days – Brice and Kim will open the store for the afternoon and donate all of their sales to local charities.
hakabohu’s philanthropic efforts will continue in 2025 as the store partners with organizations to provide birthday buckets for underprivileged kids; Brice hopes to encourage donors to give a certain amount of money each month to go towards gifts for kids.
He is also looking to partner with local children’s therapists to help customers find toys that will fulfill specific needs. He has talked with a local healthcare organization about a program called Prescriptions for Play. Through the program, healthcare providers will write a note about a child’s age and issues they’re dealing with. Parents can bring the note to local toy stores to find a product that applies directly to those needs.
“In 2025, we really want to focus on showing that these toys are more than what we think is going to be popular,” Brice said. “These are toys that can help with the same speech therapy, occupational therapy or fine motor skills that kids are working on.”
Passing the torch to the next generation
Family is a central part of hakabohu – it’s literally in the store’s name. Its moniker, which Brice revealed in 2022, comes from the first two letters of Brice and Kim’s kids’ names: Hampton, Katie Brice, Bowen and Huntley.
Today, the third generation is becoming more engaged with the store’s operations. “Seeing the kids get involved is the biggest reward,” Brice said. “This was the first year that they were very, very involved.”
The Elvington kids have accompanied their parents to Astra Marketplace & Academy for the past two years and helped them discover new product lines for their inventory. They are also learning about finances and the importance of saving by working around the store. When asked what they enjoy most at the store, they note how they like to help give customers options, retrieve items from shelves, wrap gifts and check people out at the register.
The presence of the Elvington kids has made a good impression on the store’s patrons.
“During the holidays, one of my kids would be helping a customer and they’d come up and say, ‘I hope your kids are on commission because I bought a lot more than I had planned to when I came in here,’” Brice noted. “I noticed that when one of us shows a customer 10 items, they’ll usually buy one or two of the best items. When one of my kids shows them 10 items, they’ll come with a handful, and sometimes they’ll buy all 10.”
The secret of success
In his past career working in biotech, Brice’s boss gave him some advice that he keeps in mind to this day: “If our customers are successful, we’ll be successful.” Brice took it to heart, looking at the big picture – not only for hakabohu, but the toy industry as a whole.
“Within the Astra community in general, I like to try to get people to not just think what’s best for them,” Brice said. “If we don’t all succeed together between manufacturers, reps and retailers, we’ll all go down together.”
To foster strong ties across small businesses, Brice uses social media platforms to promote other small businesses. He is currently looking for a way for nearby toy stores to connect and swap inventory; what’s underperforming in one place can sell well in another retail location. He explained the process can decrease the amount of overstock and build store owners’ confidence in trying new things.
“We’re trying to get other small businesses to see each other as allies and not competition,” Brice stated. “The more we can help each other, it helps us all survive.”
