Sask tourist attraction draws in kids and adults
By Joan Janzen
joanjanzen@yahoo.com
The words “Saskatchewan tourist attraction” immediately cause people in this region of the province to think of places like the Great Sandhills or Cypress Hills. But there’s a store nestled in Maple Creek that has become a much-loved tourist attraction in Saskatchewan; it’s called Cowtown Kids Toy & Candy, and its owners are Bob and Kara Siemens.
Bob moved here from British Columbia and was warned that brick and mortar retail is dead. Nevertheless, he purchased the heritage building at 127 Jasper St.
“I fell in love with the building, but we didn’t know what to do with it. We ended up going with a more retro theme and started searching out products from another time period. I came up with the idea of a toy store, but we had no idea how popular it would be. Very quickly, we saw there was quite a lot of interest in the store,” Bob said. The store has been open for six years and is officially the largest independent toy store in Saskatchewan.
The right-hand side of the building was constructed in 1910 and the main part was built two years later. It was initially a hardware store, but in 1920 it was converted into a provincial building and a jail cell was added. The bars from the cell and the wooden floor are just a few of the features that allow customers to experience history when they walk in the door.
“We added the upstairs and have a second building located three buildings down the street, which houses our book store,” Bob said. “It’s been a wild journey, and now we have over 27,000 products.”
Bob and Kara put a character front on the building, so the exterior matches the interior, thanks to access to funds from a heritage fund. “We been busy since we’ve opened,” Bob said. “One of our saving graces In March and April of 2020 was Canada’s largest puzzle display we have upstairs. Everyone wanted a puzzle, which helped us get a lot of publicity and retain many customers. It carried us through those weeks of lockdown.”
The store was recently visited by the travel blogger known as The Saskatchewanderer, where Bob and Kara’s toy store was viewed 100,000 times on their Facebook page. The store currently processes orders on their own Facebook page, “But we’re definitely working on an online ordering platform where people can order more efficiently,” Bob added.
“It’s fun having the store in a small town because people aren’t expecting a lot and get surprised to find so much stock, without the pressure of having city line ups,” Bob said.
The store stocks nostalgic toys like the Fisher-Price chatter phone, Spiro-graph, yo-yo, tops, building blocks, plastic animals, play kitchen toys, My Little Pony, all kinds of new toys, and an extensive amount of farm equipment.
“In the summer, the place is filled with kids on vacation. For so many families, this is an annual stop during their holiday,” Bob said. “During the rest of the year, the majority of customers are parents and grandparents, but kids are telling them exactly what they need if they aren’t in the store.”
“We wanted to create something that will be special in kid’s memories. So they’ll walk by and say, ‘Oh, Mom! There’s the toy store!’” Bob said.
It seems like Bob and Kara have succeeded in their goal. In 2016, Bob was named Rookie of the Year by the Saskatchewan Tourism Awards of Excellence and also won Business of the Year for 2016 in Maple Creek.
One of the numerous comments posted by satisfied customers said, “We have travelled all over Canada and the US and have never seen a store like this! Every toy you can think of and some you never knew existed can be found here.”
Facebook Photo: Cowtown Kids Toy & Candy is a must stop for puzzle lovers. This gigantic 42,000 piece puzzle was sold a couple of months ago. Good luck!
