Sadly - there actually IS a fairly large black market for toys. When you see stuff online that is less than it costs me to buy (wholesale), well, it probably "fell off a truck" (or was stolen out of a store or a backroom or a warehouse. And indeed, I'm not sure this crime would have happened before it was so easy to do this.

Buying from a locally-owned store keeps $$ in the community in many ways. Any profit stays here, and much of it is given back. Every penny through our doors stays here. I get it that not everyone cares about that. Totally a personal choice. We do carry the following Colorado toy companies: Zome, KnightWeaver Games, Think-a-Lot Games, Imagiplay Games, Fractiles, WABA Fun, MountainBoy Sleds as well as many other companies not based in Colorado but made in the US - Maple Landmark (Vermont), Harrisville Designs (New Hampshire), Beka (Minnesota), and many others. It's a choice - I get that. We're here for those who want that choice. We're really not that much like Target or even other independent toy stores. We've never claimed to be for everyone. Here for parents looking for creative, educational toys and a staff who knows quite a lot about the toys. Still amazed at the vile of those who really don't care about us - that's fine - we aren't all cut from the same cloth! But no need to be nasty, please, folks.

$4K was an ERROR in the story. It came from Sarah Huntley of the Boulder Police Department. No idea where she got it from. It DOES NOT MATCH the amount that I reported to them. Got that? How is it much larger? I have addressed that elsewhere. If you've ever run a business you'd get it.

I am a bit confused as to how this could happen, but please come see me and we can look up the transaction and straighten it out for. Our aisles are much lower now so not sure what you mean, but we also miss the great windows of the old space. Marilyn Walker

The math works because the reported paper loss was between $17,000 and $18,000. The $4000 number was not correct and was not from me. That math works like this - multiply those numbers by 3 and you have a number between $51,000 and $54,000. Thanks.

I wish $4k were a drop in the bucket, and I wish that $4k was the amount of the losses. Very unfortunate to see all this nastiness over a key factual error in the story. Please feel free to introduce yourself the next time you are in. I promise you I have neither claws nor fangs nor cold blood. Thank you.

Ph.D. Biology University of Colorado 1987. That's why I introduce myself that way. Now who, may I ask, are you? Very unfortunate for me that the Boulder police made an error - the article was released on a Friday night, so nothing I can do until Monday to sort that out. The reported paper loss was NOT $4,000. It was many times that. The I've had the store for 5 years. Doubt you've been in in that time, based on your comment on our staff, who are incredibly helpful. As to the "markup" comment, that is just plain ignorance. What do you know of these store's margins and costs? If you're in again, please feel free to introduce yourself to me. I much prefer open debate with real people than hiding behind false names and pictures.

I made the video as the quickest way I could think of to tell what had happened. Although there are loads of attacks on this page, accusing me of mismanagement, etc, I truly invite anyone here to please identify themselves and come meet me in person, rather than making these personal and inappropriate attacks. It really speaks poorly of you. One person wrote something to the effect of "how could I let this happen when employee theft is the #1 risk for retail." Ahm - because I'm human? The reason it is the #1 risk is that it's almost impossible to completely guard against it. Having a business means having employees means having risks and sometimes having really unfortunate things happen. Don't have sympathy for me - that isn't what I need. But why the hatred toward me? Please - identify yourself if you choose to be so full of vile and nastiness.

I just did a calculation, and our average item retail price is $9.55. You could buy a $65 toy here every week, but you'd fairly soon have bought everything we have at that level and above. And, again, the $4000 statement came from the Boulder Police Department spokesperson, not from me, and is far off from the number and 32 pages of documentation that I gave them.

This was an incorrect report and did not match the amount on our police report or insurance filing. I wish that $4k were a drop in the bucket, it is not, but the actual paper loss was about $18K, which translated into a much larger loss. There are lots of barbs being tossed here around this reporting error. Please note that number came from the Boulder Police Department, and I will be contacting them shortly regarding why they have not read through the materials I provided for them, which were quite complete.