1. Service with a Smile
January/February 2003
by Tina Manzer
C. Foster Toys, with two stores in the Chicago suburbs, didn’t reach the ripe old age of 40-
something without doing a lot of things right. One of them was offering exceptional customer
service, the foundation for their longevity.
Here, Steve Foster, a member of the third generation of owners, discusses their business philosophy
and shares other family secrets of specialty store survival.
The Fosters entered the retail world by selling cars; specifically Fords, Lincolns and Mercurys. “My
grandfather, Charles J., owned a dealership in the 1930s and into the 1950s. He also owned a
Firestone tire and battery store. Each year before Christmas, Firestone would produce a toy catalog
(they were the biggest toy dealers in the country then, believe it or not). We stocked the toys and
sold them from the basement of the store, around the corner from the car showroom.”
When Steve’s father, Chuck, returned from the army and was asked to join the family business, he
was ready but wanted to focus on toys, not cars. His father agreed, and in 1960 they opened C.
Foster Toys at the site of their original automobile dealership in Hinsdale, Illinois.
Since then, their two locations in Hinsdale and in Oak Park have become community favorites,
noted not only for their broad selection of playthings, but also for community spirit and outstanding
service. “We’ve always felt that the best way to do business was to provide good service to our
customers,” said Steve. “It goes back to the early days when we were in the car business. We
worked hard to establish relationships and build trust. We gave customers good service or they took
their business elsewhere.”
A new and improved model
Good service is as valuable today as it was 40 years ago. But the services themselves need to
change with the times. Just ask the Fosters. They’re always looking for something new.
“This year we added a gift registry, like a wedding registry but for kids’ birthdays and for holidays,”
said Steve. “It’s a great way to avoid duplicate presents. Parents bring their children in to pick out
what they’d like, then note on the invitations that they’re registered here at Fosters. We keep track
of the list, the shoppers’ anxiety is lifted and the children get what they want. So far, it’s been very
successful.”
The Fosters’ Birthday Club and Wish List Gift Registry joins other specialty service staples like UPS
shipping, gift certificates and layaway. They also offer free local delivery to seven Chicago suburbs,
special ordering, discounts to teachers and churches, and, of course, free gift wrapping. “I’m
amazed at how much our customers comment on that service,” said Steve. “They just love it. We
began offering it in the early 1980s, when my brother Jim joined the company. He had worked at a
toy store in Colorado where gift wrapping was a customer favorite.”
As Steve pointed out, the time to offer great customer service is always. It’s especially important
now with the sluggish economy. “You need to provide things that may not be costly, but that make
a difference in people’s minds,” he said. Here’s an example: in November, C. Foster Toys held its
first-ever after-hours shopping night for regular customers. “It was a complete and total success,”
said Steve. “During the three hours of what we called ‘Parents Night,’ we served refreshments, held
a raffle and offered a special discount to customers on our mailing list. Both our stores were very
busy, and people remarked that it was a great idea. We can’t wait to do again next year.”
High performance
The Fosters take community service very seriously. Charles J. set the tone by serving as a Hinsdale
Village Trustee and the chairman of the parks and playgrounds committee. When he died in 1974,
the village passed a resolution recognizing the time and wisdom that he generously gave to the
community, and expressed “their deep sense of personal and community loss.”
Chuck served on the Plan Commission for six years, and as a Hinsdale Village Trustee and Chairman

2. of the Public Safety Committee. He was also a member of Rotary and the now-defunct Jaycees.
Today, the Fosters are active in the Chamber associations in Hinsdale, Oak Park and
Willowbrook/Burr Ridge, and they support all sorts of school, sports, church and charity groups.
“It doesn’t matter what you’re selling; it’s all about building relationships,” said Steve. “That’s just
one of the reasons we’re so active in the community. The other is to give back to the folks who
obviously support us. It’s not as easy in this day and age to forge relationships, but it’s still the core
of our service philosophy.”
C. Foster Toys’ customers are mostly local. Some have been shopping there for 25 years. The age
demographic is 25-ish to 45, with young mothers and grandparents sprinkled in. “Customers come
here because they know we try to please them. When they walk in the door, they know that our
staff will answer their questions, wrap their purchase for free, and then carry it out to their car.
“It’s about familiarity, too,” said Steve. “Sandee, our Oak Park manager/ buyer, and Julie, our
Hinsdale manager/ buyer, have both been with us for 10 years. We have one employee who’s
worked here since 1965! Her friends still shop here just because she still works here. All in all, it’s
more than just a normal shopping experience. There’s a flavor of family, history and community
here.”
Turbocharged communication
The C. Foster Toys’ website was developed three years ago not because the family wanted to sell
products online. For a store more steeped in tradition than technology, it was a case of using a
modern tool to perform a traditional service: to make sure people can easily get to them, and to
convey the Foster philosophy of good service and good product.
“More and more people research online,” said Steve. “If they’re not buying, they’re looking for
ideas. We use our website to get folks into the store. It’s really difficult for us – in that kind of
environment – to convey everything that we do and encourage people to buy at the same time.
Customers still prefer to touch things, play with things. They come here and take advantage of our
hands-on displays and use our services.
“That’s why I think it’s important to keep your website information fresh, to make it engaging,”
added Steve. “You want people to want more – to call, to request a catalog, to travel to the store. I
know retailers who are spending a lot of money to sell online, but I’m not sure if it’s money well
spent.”
A graphic designer by trade, Steve developed Cfostertoys.com with the help of his brother Jim, who
“linked us up with a very good provider,” he said. “I can go into the site and do whatever I want to
in terms of design. Some of it is in a template-like format, but the images and text can be changed,
and I do that often.”
The site is interesting and informative. It features, among other things:
Store news, highlighting community events the store has sponsored and participated in, letters
they’ve received, and local magazine and newspaper articles written about them.
Upcoming special events, like weekly store specials plus the happenings sponsored by the
Chambers of Commerce of Oak Park and Hinsdale.
A detailed list of customer services.
“It takes a lot of time to keep the website up-to-date, but it’s worth it,” said Steve. “It’s a fresh
approach to promotion, a new way to communicate about our business.”
Product mix: the deluxe version
Between the two stores, C. Foster Toys has 7,000 square feet of selling space. “We still run out of
room to display all the products that we carry,” said Steve. “People who come into our store realize
that we have the best selection of toys they’re going to find anywhere.”

3. The Fosters look for products that are a good value and durable. Attention is focused on finding toys
with an educational component, but that’s just one part of a very eclectic mix. Some of their toys
are just for fun, some are educational, some are one-of-a-kind. They try to find things that cross
over into many different categories.
In addition to specialty toy store staples, C. Foster Toys also carries things that other stores like
theirs do not, like Little Tikes play equipment, Mattel games and Barbie. “We don’t want shoppers to
come here just for the special things, then head to another store for name-brand products,” said
Steve.
He pointed out that during their store’s history, good resources have not always been available to
help with product selection. “But today, we take advantage of all the sources that are out there. We
have very good toy reps, we talk to other retailers and we attend Toy Fair. We’re members of The
Good Toy Group, and they’re very good at researching and finding unique things.”
With product selection you have to take a little risk, as Steve’s dad would say. You don’t know
what’s going to sell or what the hot toy is until all of a sudden everyone is asking for it.
Don’t panic about the warning light
Speaking of risks, Steve credits the healthy bottom line of their business today to risks taken early
on by his grandfather. He realized the growth potential of Hinsdale and invested heavily in real
estate. The family owns the building that houses the store and the warehouse. “We can stock
product for up to a year here; it gives us a clear advantage over our competitors,” said Steve. “We
have to have a warehouse to sufficiently stock our two stores.”
It’s actually the original auto shop, and the Fosters still use the hydraulic car elevator to take
merchandise to the second floor storage area.
“The fact that we own the building here in Hinsdale is one of the reasons C. Foster Toys has lasted
as long as it has,” commented Steve. “I don’t know if we would have been able to afford the rent!
Know when to brake and change lanes
As we all know, business is a peaks-and-valleys proposition. The challenge lies in smoothing it out.
“A lot of businesses fail within their first two years because they only plan for the best of times. In
retail, it might be a case of thinking that every month is December, and then it becomes January.
You have to plan for the slow times so they don’t hurt as much,” said Steve.
C. Foster Toys started as one store, became two, then five. Then it experienced “a January,” a two-
year road construction project on a major thoroughfare in Naperville. It meant literally no traffic in
front of a store the Fosters had operated for 20 years. They were forced to close that location and
re-evaluate their others.
“You live and you learn and you watch your costs,” said Steve. “Sometimes you can’t keep things
from going south, but then you regroup. The two locations we have now have stood the test of
time, and we’re committing all our resources to making them successful.”
Pay attention to your computer
Inventory and labor are the two biggest costs to a retailer, with inventory being the larger of the
two. Isn’t it smart (read, “the essence of your survival”) to have a sound information system? The
Fosters think so; their inventory has been computerized since the mid-1980s. Among other things,
it alerts them to fast and slow sellers, to overstocks and understocks. It reduces pricing errors at
the cash register, and allows them to reward customer loyalty with targeted mailings and specials.
“It improves the bottom line by adding to the profit margin,” noted Jim Foster. “I believe it adds at
least two percent, probably more, to our profit margin each year. It’s a significant amount.”
Maintain speed

4. Chuck Foster is close to retirement. In fact, he talks about retiring soon, but most people think
that’s not going to happen. He and his wife, Jane, are still very active in the business. “It’s too much
a part of them to leave. My father gets away from the store more than he used to, but he’ll remain
involved as long as he can,” said Steve.
“We’d like to continue to be on the cutting edge of the best in toys,” he said. “We always want to
sell what’s unique, and offer the toys that are most interesting and of the best quality. In other
words, we’ll keep doing the things we’ve always done and monitor our business along the way. Here
and there we’ll add more services, and tweak things – like the website – when we need to.”