Today we’d like to introduce you to Bobby Atwood
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Around 2010 my uncle Mike started buying Lego lots of bulk online because his oldest son was really into Star Wars Lego. Doing that he found that he could pick out what they wanted and sell the rest after cleaning it for a profit that would fund purchasing the next lot. Mike worked as a software engineer during the day and sorted, organized and listed the Lego. My aunt Kelly took care of the shipping and packaging so it turned into a family thing to make some extra money while showing their boys how to make a little business.
They grew the business for a few years and then asked if I would like to take over. I at the time was doing computer work in southeast Missouri. I took over a majority of the online store for 3-4 years and then we discussed opening a brick and mortar. This involved me moving up to the St. Louis area, us finding a building and a million other things but we believed it would work and thought it would be something cool to accomplish starting our own business. We found a location in Kirkwood , sorted and priced things in Mikes basement and opened in October of 2019. We expanded a few years back and have added an online store and warehouse for inventory. Since opening I think we have tried to always keep improving and adding to what we are as a business. It has been very important to us to know people and be a part of the community.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think we have learned a lot. Obviously everything hasn’t been perfect but I think that’s how all businesses work. You plan out what you think works and then when it doesn’t you adjust. That applies to little problems like positioning of shelves to how to deal with the pandemic. Sometimes the solutions easy and sometimes they aren’t.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are a family owned Lego resale shop in downtown Kirkwood. We buy sell and trade all Lego products while also providing a number of other services such as summer camps, a builders club program and birthday parties. On the sales side we try to provide a few different options from other places. We sell individual minifigures so if you want a specific figure we have it. In most instances you are forced to buy the whole set but we have just the figures to hopefully save you some money. We also carry retired Lego sets. Some of out Lego sets will be up to 45 years old. The separates us from other retailers because they remove Lego sets from stores when Lego retires them. This gives us a wide range of products for the shopper to see given the long history of cool things Lego has produced. This also help us appeal to a collector market that is very strong.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Right now Lego is the number one toy in the world and seems to be becoming more popular every day. Our hopes and belief is that it continues to grow and so do we. We believe there are things for us to add and ways for us to evolve into in the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.theminifigshop.com
- Instagram: @the_minifig_shop
- Facebook: @The Minifig Shop
- Twitter: @the_minifig_shop
- Youtube: @TheMinifigShop
