Featured Site: Fine Wooden Toys

Here's a tidbit about this week's featured online store, Fine Wooden Toys:

Fine Wooden Toys is a small home-based business in rural Missouri, and we conduct all sales through our website at www.finewoodentoys.com. I started the business in 2005 with the goal of creating a easy-to-use resource for parents and schools seeking the high-quality, natural wooden toys and puzzles that are so scarce in today's department stores.

When I was a new mom, I was disturbed by the prevalence of shiny, unforgiving, hard plastic beeping and flashing toys lining department store shelves - seemingly to the exclusion of toys that might actually require or stimulate imagination. I felt like there was a conspiracy to train my baby/toddler to be a future video-game champion, by only teaching him push-button-get-response.

I remembered my own childhood, where wooden building blocks and other open-ended toys became anything I could imagine and create. Nearly 40 years later, I still remember the smell and the feel of the unfinished hardwood unit blocks - and how they could be roads, fences, castles, towers, boats - anything! I want my own son to experience this joy - the joy of imagination and the natural feel, smell, taste and sound of wood.

When I decided to open a web-based toy store of my own in 2005, my dream was to find beautiful, natural, imagination-inspiring wooden toys and puzzles, and make them available to parents like myself who yearned for them. And find them I did!

When I first discovered the handcrafted wooden puzzles and toys by Spiel and Holz Design of Germany, I was stunned by their unique beauty, versatility and play value, and knew then that I had to bring these amazing products to the US. In addition to the largest online selection of Spiel & Holz in the US, I also offer the very best educational and developmental toys and puzzles by Melissa & Doug, Plan toys, Selecta, Chelona, and more. Most of our toys and puzzles are for toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarten-aged children, but we are beginning to add more baby toys.

One of the true joys of being a small company is that have total control and intimate knowledge of every product that I sell - each has been hand-picked so that I know I am offering only the best. If I feel that a product is not quite measuring up to my standards for quality, it will be dropped and replaced with something better. I pass on the best prices that I can to my customers, and provide large, clear images and informative descriptions of each product, so that my customers are well informed. Every order is then given my own personal attention, packaged careful and shipped quickly. If a problem should arise, I pride myself in my customer service - because don't we all deserve decent, honest and friendly service in this automated age?

Sincerely,
Darci Gonzalez, President

Thanks, Darci!