This post is a bit of a departure
from the norm, and something I don’t see myself doing too often. But as it’s
the holidays and everyone (including myself) is doing quite a bit of shopping,
this seemed like a good time to do it.
The largest mall in my immediate
area underwent a massive remodel over the last year and a half. Remodel is an
understatement. They gutted it and rebuilt it almost from the ground up in some
sections. It is now the most beautiful mall I have ever been in…although it’s
less of a mall, more a shopper’s theme park. Many of the stores are
“firsts-in-the-area,” and make exploring the mall very exciting. On my first
‘mall-crawl’ I stumbled across a little gem called Marbles: The Brain Store. The name of the store does not do it
justice. It is the coolest little game store I’ve ever been in.
Wall-to-wall games, games of every
sort, small tables with games set up to play, card games, board games, wooden
games, action games, party games, but all
of them family friendly games. No Cards
Against Humanity here. It’s not so much a brain game store it seems, as a
family game store. My family takes games very seriously. At pretty much every
family gathering games are played, whether the adults or the little ones –
games will be pulled out at some point. And many games my family knows and
loves were at Marbles, along with dozens I knew immediately we would learn to
love. For little ones, versions of Spot-It
I never knew existed, for bigger kids and adults things like Labyrinth, Telestrations, and Apples to Apples.
But what really made it for me were
the employees. I don’t know about you, but for me the hard thing about buying
games, is that if you’ve never played it, it can be very hard to decide if it
is actually as good as it may look, or sometimes they seem too difficult based
on the “back of the box” blurb. At Marbles if you show interest in a game, or
seem perplexed by it, an employee almost immediately offers you a demonstration
at one of their game tables or the front counter. Some of the more popular
games are already set up around the room, or open behind the counter ready to
go. The employees take the time to give a quick but thorough run-down of the
rules, and play a round with you so you can get the feel of the game. Some
places I shop, I don’t like being “sold to.” I like to browse and leisurely
select my own choice. At Marbles, it is a very different dichotomy, and I
greatly appreciate the hands-on experience of a game before I choose to spend
the money on it. I want to know what I’m getting.
Marbles, you’re doing it right. And
now every time I’m in the mall I pop in there, and frequently I walk out with a
new game for the family.
Then on my second mall-crawl, which
happened to be Black Friday (no, I’m not crazy, nor am I one of those people) I wandered into a store,
not even hardly realizing what it was. What it was, was David’s Tea. I like tea. By that, I mean I like curling up with a
warm ‘cuppa,’ I like the endless flavor profiles you can enjoy, I like that I
don’t get the jitters like I do with coffee lately. But as much as I enjoy a
cup of tea I’m not usually one to go tea rooms, tea shops, or really go out of
my way at all for a specific type of tea. Nor have I ever dabbled in loose-leaf
tea. That all changed with David’s.
You walk in and are immediately
greeted by smiling employees behind a loooonnnggg counter that runs along one
entire side of the store. The smell alone is good enough to make you buy up the
entire store on the spot, but then you notice what is behind the counter. An entire wall, from waist height, almost to
the ceiling, of very large, very colorful tea canisters, each one clearly
labeled, their rainbow of labels beckoning for you to try every. single. one.
The other long wall is covered in neatly presented gift packages, sampler sets,
tea mugs (no froo-froo tea cups here), infusers, tea pots, tea bags – anything
your heart could desire. And the final shorter wall is a small counter, glassed
off from the rest of the store, where you can order a to-go cup of any tea in
the store, hot, iced, or as a latte.
The highlight is definitely the
smelling experience. This isn’t as odd as it sounds. What better way (short of
tasting it) is there to pick out flavors you might like to try, than inhaling
it’s natural, earthy, herbaceous goodness? The employees are extremely helpful,
make excellent recommendations based on your taste, and will pull down any of
the dozens and dozens of canisters for you to smell. But don’t worry, when you
pick one (or several, if you’re me) you’re not buying the tea that everyone’s
noses have been over. There’s a shield, hiding the real stash of tea from the smelling samples. By the time you’re
done shopping, there are usually a dozen or so canisters that you’ve been enthusiastically
sniffing, at your spot on the counter.
Now at first, I was disappointed
when I realized that it was primarily loose-leaf tea, but that went away very quickly. Loose-leaf always seemed a
little intimidating to me. I didn’t know what was involved, or how to do it
all, so I ignored its existence. Big mistake. David’s got me over that very
quickly. While they do sell several of their mixes in tea bags (or sachets, as they call them), loose-leaf
is how you get the most out of the brand. And they couldn’t make it easier to
get into. Most of the tea mugs, and many of the pots come with lovely little
built in infusers. You dump a bit of your loose-leaf in the infuser, pour the
water over it, let it steep, and either pull the infuser out of the mug, or if
it’s a tea pot, go ahead and pour it into your vessel of choice. And every
container of loose-leaf is clearly labeled with recommended measurements and
steeping time. Couldn’t be easier. They also have small enclosed infusers you
can use in any mug, and perhaps coolest of all, little disposable tea bags that
you can measure your loose-leaf into! My little haul:
The rewards program is very
generous. You’re constantly earning free tea rewards, and there’s a free cup of
tea on your birthday. And while everything seems fairly reasonably priced, they
have excellent sales and combination deals that make it quite affordable, even
to a cheapskate like me. I’ve seen that if you buy online, every order comes
with free samples as well. And after emailing customer service with a question
about my account, I can definitely say their customer service is excellent. Not
only were my questions answered, but they helped me find a few rewards and
things I hadn’t worked out on my own yet.
If you have a David’s anywhere near
you, it is definitely worth inventing an excuse to go visit. Five stars all the
way.
I haven’t done these posts
reviewing stores in the past, and I don’t intend to do them terribly
frequently. I don’t really want to over-commercialize things here, but I was so
excited about my recent finds I had to share them.
Have you ever run across these
stores, or any others that might be similar?
(Note:
I did not receive any compensation for these reviews. All opinions are entirely
my own.)
You've highlighted two stores our family would enjoy. :)
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