|
Hello and welcome to ABC Leksaker!
Once upon a time, there was an American management consultant, living in London. She met the man of her dreams, moved to Sweden, and had a baby girl. Not quite knowing what to do with her new baby, she did what all good consultants do – she researched, read books, and mined the internet for information. She became fascinated by childhood development, and loved finding exciting and educational toys. Sadly, most of the toys she wanted for her daughter were not available in Sweden. Not to worry – she shopped in the US and brought suitcases of toys home to Sweden. Two more children and several suitcases later, the idea for ABC Leksaker began to take shape…
In 2005, ABC Leksaker opened its virtual doors on the internet. The name of the company was easy – our three children are Annika, Benjamin and Christopher (though the alphabetization was not planned). As they are the reason ABC Leksaker got its start, it made sense that the company should be named after them. Also, A-B-C indicates learning and education, something we strive for in our toy selection.
Our first products were Tippecanoe sailboats, Suretrack and the card game SET. These were quickly joined by a wonderful range from Alex, and then in our first large overseas shipment, delightful toys, costumes and activity books from Melissa & Doug, Small Miracles and Klutz Press. The “warehouse” was in our basement, and the orders started coming in. We quickly outgrew the basement, and moved to a nearby warehouse in Danderyd. Our product range has since expanded to over 1000 items, including toys, games and well-designed items for families with small children.
Our product selection is based partly on our own experiences and on the experiences of our in-house testing staff – A, B and C. However, we also rely on extensive research and “expert reviews” from independent groups such as the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Dr. Toy and the iParenting Media Awards. Our goal is to have products that are high quality and long-lasting (both in durability and in playability), as well as toys that stimulate a child’s innate imagination and desire to learn. Less than 1% of our toys require batteries.
We do not have a “real shop”, but have focused instead on the internet. We believe that online, we can offer what most parents are looking for - shopping convenience and product selection. However, being only online does present some difficulties. It is impossible to know how a product feels, and the web pictures are never as good as the real thing. We have tried to give as much information in the descriptive text, and we welcome additional feedback and comments.
A final note on language… We work very hard to ensure that our product descriptions are translated into Swedish, and that they are grammatically correct. However, learning Swedish at 36 means that I will probably never master the intricacies of grammar and spelling (and the children love correcting my pronunciation!). I personally answer all e-mails sent to us, but you may get some grammatical surprises!
We hope you enjoy the product selection and your shopping experience with us!
Best wishes,
Leigh
PS - If you want to read more about me and life with Annika, Benjamin and Christopher, you are welcome to visit my blogg at The ABC Diaries.
|