By Sabine Gauditz

Retail shops run by people with a real passion for selling are the best part of any good shopping street. If you go in search of independent retail concepts in the city centres, you’ll be rewarded with expertise and a curated product range. 

One of these wonderful shops is the Domino toy shop in the lively Eppendorf district of Hamburg. The shop has been around for over 40 years and is now being run by the second generation of the family. Supported by their team, the mother-daughter dream duo of Christa Faust and Sandra Faust work together with a great deal of passion and good humour. Domino is a perfect example of how the brick-and-mortar retail sector can still work in the year 2024 – despite all the problems.

We’re keen on customers

This statement made by Sandra Faust is a unique selling point of the toy shop. Anyone entering the shop immediately senses the positive energy here. The owner and the team like people and have fun at work – yes, that really is still possible! Christa Faust says that she has greeted the toy shop every morning since 1977 with these words: “Good morning, nice shop. I’m happy to be here today.”

Advising customers is one of their top priorities, and besides selling products, the sales team give customers handy tips from their own wealth of experience, such as how to organise even the most stressful children’s birthday party or what to use as a replacement for the wooden stick for the St Martin Day’s lanterns (which is unfortunately already sold out). At Domino, customers of all ages are warmly welcomed and gifts lovingly wrapped – even if the item didn’t cost several hundred euros, but was a gift bought with pocket money.

Everyone on board!

Teamwork is a very high priority for Ms Faust. For her, it’s vital that everyone is on board and has a say. Whether it’s a matter of new posts on Instagram or ideas for events or the salesroom, working together is, for one thing, more fun and, for another, means you can satisfy a broader range of target groups.

How to increase footfall

If you sit in your shop, all stressed out and moping around, then you radiate negative energy. That’s why Sandra and Christa Faust believe that when there are few customers in the shop, you have to do something to increase customer frequency. On quiet days, it’s important to use your time wisely to come up with new sales ideas. For example, how could you attract doctors’ surgeries and day-care centres as new customers? Or how about organising a holiday event in front of the toy shop or an event for Children’s Day? And then, all of a sudden, the positive energy kicks in: the team throws itself into the planning with fervour, and because everyone is having so much fun brainstorming, you shoot a video of staff dancing a polka through the shop for your Instagram account. 

Appetisers & meeting point

The shop windows are an extremely important marketing tool for Christa and Sandra Faust and they always lavish a great deal of attention on their window displays – something that both of them regard as important! They decorate the windows every two to three weeks so that they’re always topical. They are the “appetisers” that whet customers’ appetite for more and lure them into the shop. In the neighbourhood, the shop windows have become a popular meeting place for parents with children to have a little chat together. While the parents talk, there are all sorts of things for the children to discover in the shop window – which then results in a little impatient whining.

Christa and Sandra Faust’s eye for design is also evident in the shop. Here too, the items displayed on the shelves and tables tell visual stories. Themed displays invite customers to browse and make serendipitous discoveries. To ensure that customers’ eyes aren’t overwhelmed by the multitude of colourful products and packaging, the shop has deliberately designed some rest areas with calmer colours and a clear structure.

Inspiring trade fair visits

Customers who enter the shop are looking for inspiration and solutions to problems – and want to discover special items. Over time, their buying behaviour has changed. Customers now prefer to order large toys online and have them conveniently delivered to their homes (and at the best price, too, of course). “Naturally, you still have to have the well-known brands in the shop to show that you’re competent,” says Sandra Faust. “But the pillars of positive sales figures are a customised range of products, special articles and innovations.” For her, trade fairs and visits from sales representatives are extremely important in order to discover new trends and suppliers. A day at a trade fair gives her fresh impetus, allowing her to return to her own business with renewed vigour.

The toy shop in Eppendorf is an oasis that’s full of good humour and always open to new ideas. Sandra and Christa Faust like to think outside the box. They use in-house consultations to combat tunnel vision and also apply new insights in their work right away. Small suggestions are always welcome and are tried out at once to ensure that customers of all ages have an all-round great shopping experience in the future.

About the author

Sabine Gauditz is an expert in visual marketing in the retail sector. Since 1986, she has been designing and arranging sales-promoting product presentations for various industries and redesigning the ambience of retail spaces. Together with Hans Schmidt, she founded the visual marketing consultancy, Arte Perfectum, in 2002. Since then, she has been holding seminars and workshops and offering in-house consultancy services.