West Side Kids3518

well, having read the various lines of thought here about WSK, i thought i'd add to the conversation, especially since the owner, Alice Bergman, to whom I address this message, claims to want to make things pleasant there. i arrived just now (tues 20 july 2010) at WSK without children, to buy a present for a friend's grandchild. the man at the counter was helpful though not esp. pleasant. when i finally found what i wanted, i had to stand in line 15 min. behind someone buying a lot of toys. by that time, i had only 5 min to get to another store several blocks away before it closed. as i paid for my toy, i asked if i could have some tissue paper, because the present was fragile and i had to pack it in a suitcase. the man said i could have *either* tissue paper *or* have the present wrapped, but not both. I said i would take the wrapping paper, because i could supply the tissue paper myself at home. he then said they only wrapped there...and he called a short, stout woman with short curly brown hair (i describe her so you can know who your rude staff members are) to wrap the toy for me. i explained to her that i would supply the tissue paper myself if she would supply the wrapping paper. she said she could not do that, because they do their own gift-wrapping. i explained that i had just waited in line 15 min and had to get someplace else before they closed. she insisted that she could not simply give me the piece of paper because that was store policy. -- at this point i was definitely rememberiing all the comments i had read on this site, and saw that even for a customer *without children and *without cell phone, a customer who has already paid $25 for a toy, the staff can, indeed, be very very rude. Okay, so that's your policy: but you know, there are pleasant ways of conveying that information and unpleasant ways, and this woman was distinctly Unpleasant. Really. she didn't smile, and she didn't apologize, and she treated me as if i were asking something outrageous. you know, i work in an institution that also has a lot of rules, but occasionally, for my clients, i treat the rules as just the tiniest bit flexible, just as a kindness. such an action builds good will and is definitely in the interest of the institution. This woman is *not* helping your business, whoever she is; and maybe she's you, Alice B.! i don't know. i let her wrap the present, and i ran to the other store and just made it in time, but you know, i'll think twice before going to WSK again. your toys are wonderful, but can you truly not hire polite, friendly people??

the staff here is extremely rude. my sitter went there a few weeks ago with my two kids but she couldn't find what i had asked her to get. when she pulled out her cell phone to text me a question regarding the toy, they said that she could not use it in the store. come on? then i went in there today and my kid decided to have a meltdown. rather then receiving looks of empathy, i received many rude looks from the staff... as if i should leave immediately. shouldn't they know that part of being a kid involves you having the occasionally meltdown or two? i will NEVER go to this store!! i will go to planet kids or therapie from now on.

I use to live near this store and I was always there with my daughter and she loves this place. We were always very comfortable there, it's a calm place, with polite kids and it's perfect to find excellent toys, arts and crafts supplies,... And the fact that the owner is there, taking care of the place, watching for the toys that are for sale is very nice! It's not a big, giant, impersonal store. It's a classic Upper West place. What's not to love about it?

It's so nice to still have local stores along Amsterdam, and contrary to NYC Parent's feedback, I've always found this place to be helpful and welcoming to my kids. I find it hard to believe that a place that offers three different play areas for kids would be considered a place that doesn't like kids touching things. While my kids aren't wild animals, they also aren't saints and they've never had a negative experience here. Free gift wrap is great too!

Kid store are supposed to be friendly and helpful. This store doesn't like kids touching things. Everything is list price. I paid $22 for a game that was $12 a block away at Barnes and Noble. Parents should just pass this place by...

We visited NYC over the holiday weekend and WSK's was one of the highlights of the trip. Very courteous staff, awesome selection, reasonable prices, and free gift wrapping.

Best selection of creative and educational toys with friendly and helpful staff,they even know regular customers by name and with provision of a play area for kids and quick free gift wrapping service it makes shopping so much easier

You or your children are likely to get yelled at for breaking one of their rules. I really want to like this store but am hard pressed to spend my money somewhere that is so disrespectful of its clientele. Once I started to talking to others, I realized that this is actually the underground reputation for this UWS store.

I don't live there, but am often on the west side. I make a point of stopping into West Side Kids to check out the latest toys and books for my grandchildren. I greatly appreciate their selection and service, especially the "no cell phone" policy. Other shops could take a lesson from their customer-oriented practices!

I have to say that West Side Kids is hands down the best toy store on the west side. They have a great selection of product and their staff is so knowledgeable and helpful. It's just a pleasant shopping experience every time you walk in the door!

There's plenty of smart, fun stuff to choose from, and one is not overwhelmed by an expansive, sprawling, overly commercial shop. In a neighborhood taken over by banks and pharmacies, it's comforting to still have a down home, salt-of-the-earth spot to buy almost any fun thing one needs for a child - and the kind staff held our soccer trophy for us for weeks after we said we'd come pick it up! Thank you so much!

I have been going to West Side Kids with my children for 12 years now. It's a great place to find presents or just look around. The staff is very helpful and the store carries a good selection of interesting toys for young children. Not to big to be overwhelming.

I've been shopping at this store since my kids were little. We have always appreciated the thoughtful suggestions we've received from the staff. Makes toy buying a lot easier.

I have been going to this store because it's one of the few still in the neighborhood. Unfortunately they are so RUDE!!!! There are too many rules and the staff seems annoyed when you talk to them. I didn't notice that they had put up a no cell phone sign. They practically bit my head off when I answered my phone. I also do not feel very welcomed in there. I actually prefer to go WITHOUT my son. (How ironic?) So I usually go downtown to buy toys for my son. But it's a good place to go to if you need a quick present for a child.

I am the owner of West Side Kids. I am dismayed to read that some of our customers are unhappy with our service. I have talked to the staff and they too are upset to find that some customers' needs aren't being met. We have made some changes and hope that the folks who have been unhappy will notice a difference. I am a West Sider and raised my children on the West Side. I opened West Side Kids 26 years ago because I wanted have a store with services and amenities that I would have enjoyed shopping in when my girls were little. I wanted to buy thoughtfully and carefully for my community. I wanted the toys to be fairly priced. That is still my mission. We do have three rules. One is no eating in the store. The second is that we ask that children not play with the toys that are for sale. We do provide play areas for the kids whose parents are shopping in the store. We don't have the buying power of big box stores and cannot send back damaged or shop worn goods. We don't want to have to pass the cost of damaged goods to our customers. We are going to make sure we rotate the toys in the play areas more often. The third rule is that we are now cell phone free. This was a very hard decision to make. After all, we are a toy store and recognize that our customers need to be able to be in touch with their children and baby sitters. At first we found cell phones slowed us down and made the store very noisy when 7 or 8 conversations were going on at a time. But then we began to realize we were learning things about our customers we didn't want or need to know. Most of our customers understand and thank us for our policy. They like that we're more efficient, but they especially appreciate not having to be a party to other customers' intimate lives. The staff and I invite all customers to make suggestions to us when they're in the store on how we can be better. Some of our best policies have come from customer suggestions. We want to be the best we can for you. We are a community store and believe that everyone in the community deserves respect.

This toy store has many unique toys as well as classics. Their prices are reasonable and the service is good. They also have a convinient wrapping service which is free, and a play area for children. It makes shopping a little easier!

behind the counter i.e. check out staff not over- charming, but good selection of toys which are reasonably priced, and nicely packaged for gift giving