Celebrating five years of being your local toy store

It's hard to believe that it's five years since Cuthberts first opened their doors to the toy buying public of St Albans. Since then we've gone from one store in Hertfordshire to three and launched a successful online store - and we've had great fun whilst doing so.

We've sold thousands of toys in five years and judging by our "trophy cabinet" it seems we're quite good at it.  Starting local, we were delighted to be successful in the Specialist Shops category of St Albans Retailer of the Year in 2012 and we're very proud that this reflects the excellent customer service that we give our customers in the city. In the same year, Vogue magazine named us the ninth best shop outside London and hot off the back of that we also won Specialist Multiple Toy Retailer of the Year in 2013.  The end of the year also saw us named as the Good Toy Guide's retailer of the month for December. And keeping up the good work we were nominated for both the Progressive Preschool awards and the Let Toys be Toys Good Practice Award in 2014.



There's even been a celebrity or two spotted toy shopping with us.

We don't just do this for the awards though as we feed incredibly proud of the local reputation that we've built up over our five years in business. We couldn't have done this up alone though and there's no doubt that some of our success is due to the excellent local partnerships that we've built up over that time.





When we opened our third store in the Hatfield Galleria in 2012 we blogged here about how keeping it local worked for us and it's still the way we do business. Our fifth birthday feels like the appropriate time to give a big Cuthberts thank you to some of our local partners.









The collective in St Albans are still our go to people for everything and anything design related.

Another St Albans firm, RippleGen, are behind our new website and our relaunched online toy store.

Speaking of our online business, Mail Boxes etc on Holywell Hill are the ones who help us get toys to our customers on time.



In store Custom Made Carpentry & Joinery are responsible for helping us to display all the toys we sell so nicely, and Beelex Electrical the lighting to ensure you can actually see what you're looking for.

Around the corner from the St Albans store, and just a few doors away from Beelex are Printed Clothing who supply the distinctive tops and hoodies that our award winning staff wear.

And last, but by no means least, are Barrisimo the local award winning family coffee shop who help to keep us in coffee throughout the working day!

It was great to be able to celebrate our fifth birthday in store with some of our local customers and suppliers and it just leaves us to say thank you for all our support and customer over the last five years, and here's to the next five years!

Cuthberts have three award winning toy shops in St Albans, Letchworth and the Hatfield Galleria as well as their online toy store.

Cuthberts Open 2013

There was a fantastic turn out at the Hatfield Galleria last weekend for the Cuthberts Open 2013 - the first time that the Galleria has hosted a speed cubing competition and it was an event that caught everyone's attention. Cuthberts were proud to be the official sponsors and thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone get into the Rubik's cube spirit.

People of all ages were amazed by the speed that these cubers work at, and it was great to see so much enthusiasm for a cube which started life as a simple children's toy. Judging by the number of cubes we sold over the weekend it looks like the event may well have inspired quite a few people to have a go themselves.

The competition itself was fast and furious - when you compare how long it takes you to solve a cube at home (if indeed you can!) and then look at the speed which these cubers work there often is no real comparison. In some cases, blink at the wrong time and you would have missed quite a bit of action.

Full results from the competition are available on the World Cube Association website. It's worth concentrating on the figures though. The best time logged over the weekend for solving a standard 3x3 Rubik's Cube was 6.58 seconds (by world number 3 Alexander Lau). 6.58 seconds! That's mind bogglingly fast. Even the winner of solving one of these blindfolded managed it in 43.98 seconds (the UK's Oliver Frost) I'm yet to manage to solve the 2x2 cube that I was given as part of my research for writing this article - yet the Cuthberts Open saw someone solve it in 1.67 seconds. I'm left wondering if I've been given a trick one that's impossible to solve!

As if the mental ability to solve these cubes isn't enough the manual dexterity required is also very impressive. Cuthberts caught up with world number three Alexander Lau and watched him solve a standard 3x3 Rubik's cube. Just watch how fast his hands move!

Many thanks to everyone that was involved in making the Cuthberts Open 2013 such a success - organisers, competitors and supporters. We very much hope that the cubing world will return to the Hatfield Galleria soon. If you missed all the action and are inspired to have a go yourself head down to one of our stores as all three will be stocking a range of cubes.

Introducing the Cuthberts Open 2013

How many of you have tried to solve a Rubik's Cube? The iconic 3x3 cube has had people scratching their heads since it's invention in 1974, but for some people just solving it isn't enough. They instead start trying to see how quickly they can solve it. Start trying to solve 2x2, 4x4, 5x5, 6x6 and even 7x7 cubes. Even start trying to solve the standard 3x3 cube with just one hand, or blind-folded, or with their feet. Welcome to the crazy world of speedcubing!

Cuthberts is delighted to announce that you'll soon be able to see all this for yourself as speedcubing is coming to the Hatfield Galleria for the Cuthberts Open 2013. On the 5 and 6 October 2013 the Galleria will be hosting this two day competition for speedcubers from around the world. Competitors are already registered from Belgium, China, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Poland and South Africa, as well as some home-grown cubing talent from the United Kingdom. If you or your children want to see how it's done then come on down and join us.

Russia hosted a winter open earlier this year and this video should give you a good feel for the excitement of speedcubing.



The full schedule of events in the Cuthberts Open 2013 is available here and the competition will be taking place on the upper level of the Galleria. The competition is organised by the UK Cube Association (UKCA) who in turn are part of the World Cube Association. If there's anything you ever wanted or needed to know about Rubik's Cubes then these are the people to talk to!

If you come along and are inspired to have a go yourself then the Cuthberts store in the Galleria will have a full range of Rubik's products for you to take home to try.

Say hello to our Lego Yoda!

If you've visited the Cuthberts stores in St Albans or the Hatfield Galleria over the last few months you can't have failed to see the giant Lego Yoda that we've been helping to look after. He's certainly been attracting a lot of attention.

Yoda wasn't the result of a group of keen Lego fans being let loose in store though. Featuring a whopping 63,379 bricks (and no we didn't count them to check!) he was originally built by Lego themselves and then brought to site on an articulated truck in sub-section pieces, before the Lego building experts put him together again. My sources also tell me that there might be a bit of glue involved too - just to make sure he always looks his best for his fans.

Yoda is currently residing outside Cuthberts in the Galleria where he will be until the end of July. Make sure you come and say hello before he moves on elsewhere.

Hama Beads at Cuthberts

If you're looking for a non-messy craft for children then look no further than Hama Beads.

Hama Beads are incredibly simple, but very effective at the same time. The beads themselves are round plastic, with a hole through the middle, and can be arranged on a peg board to form patterns or pictures. Once the design is complete you lay a piece of the supplied ironing paper (like greaseproof paper) over the design and run a hot iron over it to fuse the beads together. This means that you can then display the completed picture or turn it into something like a drinks coaster.

Many of the peg boards are made of clear plastic so that you can lay the pattern sheet under the board to follow it easily. Separate pattern books are also available and numerous patterns are also available on the internet, with whole Pinterest boards devoted to them.



More artistic children can come up with their own Hama designs and it's relatively easy to do so. The only thing you need to remember is that if you're making a design on a board and then iron it, your finished picture will actually be the reverse of what you've put down on the pin board. Not a problem with a reversible picture, but if your design contains text you might come a bit unstuck - a lesson I learnt when making the Cuthberts logo at the top of this blog post!

There are three different sizes of Hama Beads available to suit different age ranges.

• Maxi Hama Beads - 10mm diameter, designed for pre-school children aged approx. 2 and a half to 4 years.
• Midi Hama Beads - 5mm diameter, ideal for children aged 5+
• Mini Hama Beads -  2.5mm diameter, for children aged 10+

For younger children the beads really do encourage and help develop their fine motor skills and for this age range just putting the beads on the board is entertainment enough, without following a pattern. Hama Beads can also form a great part of role play and I've seen them used as food ingredients in many toddler cooked meals before. Pouring them from one container to another provides a great test of a child's dexterity through play.

I'm yet to find a child that doesn't enjoy Hama Beads and I've heard many parents say that it's been the only craft that their boisterous child has enjoyed and that has kept their interest for any period of time. Even as an adult, following a design can be incredibly relaxing after a busy day.

Hama Beads are available in Cuthberts stores in St Albans, Hatfield and Letchworth and also on their website.

Micro Scooters for Everyone!

If you walk in any local park you're bound to see plenty of children darting around on scooters. If you look carefully you'll notice that a clear majority of them are riding Micro Scooters and there are many reasons why the one brand has such a strong following.

The three wheel design of the mini and maxi Micro scooters means that young children easily find them very stable and easy to steer. They are also very low to the ground which helps children's balance further. The high build quality of all Micro Scooters means that they easily stand up to the everyday wear and tear that children put them through as they travel to school or round the local park. As they are light weight they can easily be hung off a buggy whilst your little one is exploring the local playground, or for mum or dad to carry it home whilst they stay at school.

The Micro Scooter range isn't just limited to the Mini and Maxi scooters though and Cuthberts are proud to stock Micro Scooters which cater from the very young, right up to adult commuters. The below should give you a taste of what is available for different ages, but all our staff are extremely knowledgable about the whole range, so do just come into your local store and ask us to help find what is right for you or your children.

Mini Micro Seat (1-3 years)

 

With the addition of a seat and O-bar handle to a Mini Micro Scooter you have a ride on which will work well for children around the one year mark. Once your child is more confident on their feet and balancing well the seat can be removed and you have an ideal first scooter. The O-bar handle is shorter than the standard mini T-bar handle making it easier for little ones to use and gain confidence on. When they have grown in height, normally around the 3 year mark, the supplied T-bar handle can be swapped in and it becomes a standard Mini Micro Scooter.

The tough plastic base and wheels mean that this scooter is strong enough to withstand what a toddler will put it through, but can also be used indoors on hard floors without ruining your floor!

Local mum Mrs C reviewed the Mini Micro Seat with her daughter.

Cuthberts stock the Mini Micro Seat in both pink and blue (containing seat, O-bar handle and T-bar handle as well as scooter base), and also sell the Mini Micro Seat and O Bar as a separate package.

Mini Micro Scooter (3-6 years)

This was the original, award winning, micro scooter and the one that you will have most likely seen out and about. A three wheel scooter with simple tilt and lean steering it's perfect as a first scooter for young children.

On her blog mum Emma talks about how a mini Micro Scooter has helped her daughter, who suffers from Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH), to develop gross motor skills and build strength. She also mentions how some children in hospital also use micro scooters as part of their physio.

Cuthberts sell the Mini Micro Scooter in the original blue and pink colours and also stock the neon colour range. They are exclusive local stockists for the limited edition Mini Micro Candy Pink and Candy Blue.

Maxi Micro Scooter (6-12 years)

Once children have outgrown the mini micro scooter there is a natural progression on to the Maxi Micro Scooter. Still with the three wheel design and the tilt and lean steering that children mastered with the mini, the maxi also features an adjustable handle height so that it can grow with the child.

Life at the Zoo recently reviewed their son moving up from a Mini to a Maxi Scooter.

Cuthberts stock the Maxi Micro Scooter in red, blue, purple and black.

Micro Sprite Scooter (5-12 years and upwards)

Not all Micro Scooters have three wheels. The Sprite is a two wheeled aluminium framed scooter which is also foldable, making it even easier to transport.The steering on the Sprite is also different, with 360 degree steering, much like you get on a bicycle. Like on the Maxi Scooter, the handle height is adjustable. It's an ideal introduction to two wheeled scooters for children.

Seasider in the City's son and husband were sent a Maxi and a Sprite to review together.

Cuthberts stock the Sprite in red, pink, silver, black and blue and all colours are also available online.

Micro Bullet Scooter (5-12 years and upwards)

The Bullet is very much like the Sprite in design, but features an anodised frame, making it even more resistant to corrosion and wear. Again with an adjustable height handle which folds the bullet also has a unique “Gun finish” which makes it really stand out from the others.

Cuthberts are pleased to sell the Micro Bullet both in store and online.

Micro Rocket Scooter (7 years – adult)

If you want to take your scooting up a gear as a teenager then the Rocket is the scooter to do just that. Whilst still having the robust finish of all Micro Scooters and the adjustable height folding handle of the other aluminium scooters, the Rocket also features unique fatties wheels which provide extra grip and stability, especially when scooting on slightly uneven surfaces.A tribal design and racing green finish complete the Rocket's unique look.

Cuthberts' stores stock the Micro Rocket and it is also available online.

Micro Flex Scooter (10 years – adult)

The Flex scooter really opens up scooting for adults as well as children. Parents are finding that a Flex is a great way to join the children when out for a scoot, whilst commuters are seeing them as a realistic option for getting to the office, or to help avoid car parking charges at the local train station. The fact that it folds easily means that it can either be carried with you or it will go in the car boot along with the children's scooters.

The patented composite flex deck makes it the most comfortable scooter around and the adjustable height handle means that it accommodates commuters of all heights.

Cuthberts are pleased to stock the Micro Flex in store.

Micro Flex Air Scooter (10 years – adult)

Following on from the Flex, the Flex Air incorporates a wood and fibreglass deck to help absorb bumps and also air filled wheels (hence the name). Again, it has the folding mechanism and adjustable height, but the large frame of this scooter makes it particularly suitable to taller riders.

The Micro Flex Air is available in all Cuthberts stores and online.

Spare parts

In addition to stocking the scooters themselves, Cuthberts also stock a range of spare parts for the Mini and Maxi Micro Scooters which can be used either to replace anything broken, or to help your children change the look of their scooter, especially if it is being passed on from an older sibling. Just changing the handle grips or brake can really give a scooter a whole new look. Should you want any specific part then please phone your local store to check availability.