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That makes sense. We are sparsely populated compared to our Itll',','." neighbour. And our wages and social benefits costs are 1 er. And when you consider that the statistics say mart of us are in the States shopping our hearts out, that doesn't leave too many dollars to support our retailers. As free trade continues. reduced tariffs will require Canadian retailers to reduce their operations through mergers and cutbacks. Now at the beginning of this article I described the sport of cross border shopping appealing to the brave and the daring. The catch to making this sport worthwhile u to get the goods back home. Without paying extra duty. After all, that would defeat y goal of cheap shopping. _ __ _ - - Now I'm certain we have all heard of people not declaring every purchase at the Borden (Not that anyone of us would consider doing this)So think about these statistics. They had to eoyttshttrttttprrsvetttoupre _ A _7 _ . ., _ I Inspect ttiat many of the loonies Canadians leave behind in the States are not included in our numbers, when you think about it do we have anything left to spend here? A Especially when you couple it with the cheap American prices. And they are cheap when you compare them to the prices we are used to paying. 0f com-so. we all hear the stories that Canadian retailers have in ttgy more because it's more expensive to do business here in a . Bit' tfie Canadian loonie has rallied tthah technic'al talk meaning got stronger). And that extra 15 per cent conversion doam't hurt so much. Is anyone still shopping in Canada? In 1989, there were approximately 20 million Canadians gtg.' one visit to the States and leaving behind 86.5 billion 0 are. ' Is anyone left in Canada shopping? Most retailers would say no. So why the rush to the States? And why are more people doing it now than ever before? Well, the Canadian dollar has been very strong. Remember when it was 72 cents compared with the Yankee dollar? Shopping in, the States seemed a little too expensive then. -- Ttiat's $2 billion dollars a quarter. Eight billion dollars a year. With six million visits a quarter that's 24 million Canadians mnkinggne . visit a yeltr, 7 - fl __ - Now this is the sport for the brave and daring. The participant, armed with enough knowledge or retail Canadian prices to be a lifetime champion on The Price Is Right, heads off on a two-hour drive through heavy trame to the US. After surviving the long lineups at the border, you approach the Mecca of factory outlet shopping. - - Large parkilig Iota await-yell. Lo and behold, your fellow Canadians are here. And they are gathered for the sport Cgpadlans do test - shtypittgyut -of_tht country. - How many of us are down there? Well statistics are always behind the times but, in the third quarter of 1990 (that's July to September) nearly 6 million Canadians were there waving cash and credit cards. On average. the statistics continue, we each leg just over $300 there. Whenever I reed about statistics, I'm reminded of the saying: “There are lies, there are damn lies and then there are statistics.” While I was still awake and reading these figures I came across some interesting numbers concerning the estimated number of Canadians involved in the popular sport of cross border shopping _ Recently. I read a publication on economic statistics: There are two difficulties in reading these types of publica- lions. The ftrat, is trying to stay awake while you're reading. The “and. is understanding what is being said. - 7 “It's frustrating for a child playing with a game that can only be played one way, especial. ly if they don't know how to play it. Eventually that frustration can turn a child offofa toy and th_en yopr money i_s wasted.” But Discovery Toys last, says Meyer, because even the simplest ones grow with a child. Measure Up cups. for example, aren't just colored cups that fit together that a child can sort by color and size. They also have numbers inside and animal faces outside with the type of animal corresponding to "One of the things I like best about these toys," says Meyer, “is the fact that there is no right way to play with them. They're all intended to cover more than one phase of development, so the toy grows with the child as the child learns new skills." One of the benefits of the multi. use toys Discovery makes, says Meyer, is they encourage children to be creative and play in diffe. rent ways and this boosts selfes- Everything about Discovery Toys is educational, from the simplest toy for very young chil. dren to the more complicated games and toys for older children. Each toy is sptsirteally designed as a teaching tool, making use of colors, shapes and sizes in ways that encourage skills such as reasoning, creativity, language and fate motor skills. Kenn Added” Chronicle Staff Experts have long agreed that a child's play can be an important learning experience, when open, young minds, can be taught im. popant mental and social skills. Constructive play became a buzz phrase in the '8th, and parents and educators began looking for products that would not only keep kids occupied and amused but would help them learn. What Valerie Meyer, a Water. loo mother of two, discovered was Discovery Toys, a complete range of educational toys designed to promote learning and social de. 'it""'""" throughout a child’s ife. "About 70 per cent of our toys are exclusive to the company. You might find a similar product in the stores, but nothing exact. Another 25 per cent of our toys are totally exclusive and are designed especially for the com. Meyer is now an area sales manager for the company, one of several hundred area residents who promote Discovery Toys through direct marketing. The toys aren't sold in stores, some. thing Meyer says accounts for many of the exclusive 1esigns, The toys also come with a one- year guarantee against breakage and a piece replacement guaran- tee to replace lost pieces of the my: for the life of the toy. And all Discovery Toys are made with the company’s philosophy in mind; they are nomviolent, non-sexist and battery free. "Toys can also be important in social development, so there are no war toys, guns. or anything that depicts violence; none of the toys are geared towards a particu- "Toys can also be Important ln social development, so there are no war toys, guns, or apythlng that_depiets vlo'lence' . ' Marble Works, become different toys every time they come out of the box, Because they are as» sembled, a child can put many of them together in new and excit. ing ways. says Meyer, depending on their mood. ¥I|erle Meyer and 5-year-old son Adam discover Discovery T oys. the size of the cup, And the cups lar sex and none need batteries are volume proportional so the and that makes them more ennr number one cup and the number onmentally friendly .. two cup can be filled with liquid , . . and poyed law amber three “32333333 ty.te,tr,e s:tl. WATERux? W, WAY. FEBRUARY 27, 001 . PAGE A17 Toi's for older children, such as Meyer And the benerns of sellmg directly to consumers. says Mer er, allows parents to take toys out of their boxes and play with them before they buy, something that can't happen in a store, Anyone interested in their own home demonstration can call Meyer at "Some may seem a little more expensive than a similar toy m a store, but those toys don't have a guarantee against breakage and just about every parent has seen how quickly toys break. Besides, when you watch a child playing with these toys and you see what they can do with them, It makes the cost all worthwhile tt Meyer is a Ptrtn behever in the value of her product. her own children play with Discovery toys. and what started as a part. tinte job for a stay-at-home mother has become a lucrative “It's a great job for a mother, not. only because I'm concerned about educational toys. but also becauaeIsetrttyownhourssol can spend as much ume with my children as possible." And, because the toys are sold through direct marketing. the company doesn't have to build _overhead costs into the price About 65 per cent of the DISCOV ery Toys line costs under $15.