Come With Us on An Unexpected & Extraordinary Adventure!
My Small World is Dreaming BIG!
We are kicking of 2025 with some unbelievably exciting news.
Really, really big and exciting news!
In May of this year My Small World turns 20. And in the last two decades we have achieved so many wonderful things, earned awards, nominations, thousands of wonderful reviews, met countless beautiful families, worked with incredible toymakers and creators and flown the flag for what innovative, creative, inclusive, ethical children’s retail can look like.
18 months ago I was told that we wouldn’t be able to renew our lease in our current store, and this really wasn’t in the master plan. But if I’ve learned anything over the last 20 years it’s that a spanner in the works is a fantastic nudge towards something better and more exciting, and once again, with patience and perseverance this has turned out to be very, very true.
I’ve been quietly beavering away behind the scenes on a very big and grown up plan to take us into the next twenty years, and thanks to an incredibly forward thinking and supportive national landlord, we are about to move into a huge 3000sq ft store – 30 seconds from our existing shop.
We will be the only independent store in the entirety of British Lands’ 52 shopping centres, and we’ll be flying the flag for what a unique shopping experience can look like, and what a nimble small business can achieve. We are already often described as the most beautiful toy shop in the country, and I’m really looking forward to pulling my sleeves up, putting my theatre designer hat back on, and making this new store absolutely jaw droppingly incredible. We’ll be one of the biggest independent toy shops in the Uk, and we’ll be delivering something absolutely breath-taking. We can’t WAIT for you to see it.
We need your help with a very specific part of our big plan!
Although we are able to almost entirely self fund this massive expansion, we are running this Crowdfunder to help us get over the line with three important elements which we would otherwise have to add at a later date – and we very much want to hit the ground running with our full vision in place. If you can support us, that would be incredible. If you could spread the word, that would be SO brilliant too!
Let's Fill You In On The The Big Plan..
Moving to a the new store will increase our floorspace by 400%. This will give us a unique opportunity to create an incredible environment for exploring and playing. We will at last have the space to be able to really carefully curate areas for every age and interest. But what we also really want to do is to create really special, flexible areas which give us the opportunity for special events, of working with local festivals, children's authors, illustrators, toy makers and creators to bring workshops and happenings to Bath.
We are asking for your help to fund four very specific projects in the new store:
My Super Human - Our Specialist Toy Department for Neurodiversity
Here's the big one...You already know that we are huge advocates for the power of neurodiversity in the workplace, and that we are very proudly an Autism friendly shop . My Small World would be a less colourful, less creative, more disorganised and less joyful place to work and play without the positive impact of making sure we are an Autism friendly workplace and shop floor. Pictures of our Autism Friendly A-board have been shared over 7 million times around the world, so we know how much this inclusion means.
We have dreamed for a long time of having a specialist area in the store with a comprehensive range of incredible toys, games, books and equipment for our neurodiverse customers and their families. To that end, we want to create a stunning store with in a store - My Super Human. Tucked away so as not to overwhelm and especially designed to cater for families and friends who need specialist advice, and time and space to choose just the right thing.
A Beautiful Party Planning Experience
You've told us the thing you find most 'grrrrr-ing' is party bags. We've thought hard about how we make this an enjoyable experience, and what we could bring to the table. We are determined to provide something a little different and far more environmentally friendly than the usual offering. So we want to create a beautiful dedicated space where you can come, grab a tea or coffee, sit down and we help you with all the hard work... including working with our lovely Three Bags Full Couriers to deliver your made up party bags to your door on the day.
A Disabled Access Baby Change and Customer Toilet
This is so important to us... and we would LOVE to make this happen. Finding a toilet when you have very small children can be an absolute pickle - especially with a buggy and extra children in tow. And if you have someone in your family with additional needs it can be very comforting to know there is somewhere which won't be hectic and full of people. We know this will remove stress with shopping for a lot of people.
Back Of House Set Up
We very much need to move and upgrade our picking, packing and wrapping area. This year was a struggle for space as the website gets busier and busier and the move to the new store would give us the opportunity to future proof it. We are determined that this should be as neurodiverse friendly as possible for future team members. This includes noise reducing flooring and softer lighting.
Bespoke, customisable flexible shelving...
20 years ago I designed the shelving in the shop literally on the back of a weetabix packet. It has been much copied since, which is flattering. But with your help we could take this opportunity to go back to the drawing board and design new and even more flexible units which would give us so much range to change the shop around easily, to move things around to give us space for events.
Why We Need Your Help...
The cost of the new store and fitting it out will be funded in the most part from the business cash flow, from our own personal investment and from our existing facilities. We have been running successfully and profitably for the last 20 years, each year with increasing turnover and with a cast iron business plan.
However this is no small project, and we expected to have more time to build investment. We are increasing our floorspace by 400% and we want to take this once in a lifetime opportunity to create something utterly unique, and utterly breathtaking. By getting this right, and by being able to put in place all we have planned from the outset rather than adding gradually we will be saving money in the long term, and will be able to deliver the most extraordinary experiences to our community, to our neurodiverse friends and families and to all the people who visit us from all around the Uk and overseas from the moment we open our new doors.
This is why we are turning to you for support. Crowdfunding for this last final amount means we can hit the ground running without compromising. Your money will directly be spent on the My Super Human store within a store, an accessible baby change and toilet, a fit for purpose back of house which will cater for future colleagues with neurodiversity who would thrive with us here, and craftsmen to create the extra unique details which will bring our plan to life, and which will create spaces and places and events where all children feel seen, included and loved.
We have been given this opportunity, and we want to blow your socks off - and with your support, we can.
What a Bigger Store Means for Us, For Bath, For You...
- An absolutely unique flagship toy store. We already bring people to Bath who come specifically to visit us. We aim to be even more of a destination store for the city.
- We will build on our reputation for inclusivity, and lead the way as retailers and employers in showing excellence in the field
- Increased opportunities to work together with city stakeholders, local charities, festivals and creatives by having the space to host events
- More employment, starting with the immediate recruitment of two more sales assistants
- Creating stronger links with our local community as a family hub
- Spreading the My Small World joy far and wide.
- It's our aim, and not to exaggerate, to create the most beautiful and unique toy shop in the world.
We know our little shop has become a special place for people over the course of the last 20 years, and we couldn't have achieved what we already have without you. That's why we want to ask you to come on this new adventure with us and be part of a story which changes the view of how retail operates.
How We Got Here - & What Makes Our World Go Round
What started with a search for a really special present for my son's first birthday in 2003 has become the most unexpectedly fun and rewarding journey anyone could ever have, ever!
Now, 20 years later, I'm surrounded by a close knit shop family of five - a team who are powered by kindness and who have a passion for all things play. I'm SO proud of how determined we all are to give the most extraordinary shopping experience ever... real people, working with a lot of joy in a real toy shop in the heart of Bath.
In that time we have won many awards, been named as among The Guardian's top 5 Independent Toy Shops in the Uk, been frequently described as the most beautiful toy shop in Britain and have won many accolades and reviews for our absolutely top tier customer service. In December journalist William Sitwell wrote that he would 'nominate My Small World for a Nobel Prize'.
This adventure all began because I couldn't find the toy shop of my dreams, filled with brilliant and beautiful things - so I made one, with the amazing and unwavering support of my epically entrepreneurial Mother, Iris. Armed with a theatre and set design background and my experiences of being the parent to very young children (1 & 2 years old when we dreamed up this whole idea) we created one of the first of a new kind of toy shop, and I'm so proud to not only still be thriving, but with the help of a young and vibrant team still innovating, still creating and still leading the charge.
We opened our doors in May 2005 in the Podium Shopping Centre in Bath, in a tiny store I think of now as our incubator - small enough to make the inevitable starting in business mistakes without fatal consequences, but large enough to quickly make an impact on our community. Just three of us - me, Iris and the joyous force of nature of our first employee, Lucy.
Sometimes, having no experience and making it up as you go along is the best way. Unhampered by the constraints of the usual 'processes', 'shoulds' and 'musts' of retail we simply created a world filled with joy, and love and fun. We didn't compromise.
I was always (and still am) constantly thinking about how I wanted people to *feel* when they arrived in our doorway and stepped over the threshold. A sense of excitement, of being welcomed, of being in a place where everything was made a little bit easier and a bit more fun. Where people felt like humans, and the way the shop runs is always to make things as easy and stress free for the customer rather than for the business.
And the toys! Oh the TOYS! I want our customers to know that we have hand picked every last thing they see. That it has to survive life on the toy shop floor, that it is tried and tested it and chosen it for its design, its quality and it's ultimate 'fun-ness". (New word, stolen from a three year old)
We are all about our customers. Our best ideas have come from thinking about how we can make life better and easier and more fun for people with young children in their lives. You only have to look at our hundreds of reviews to know how personally we take making people happy. A toy shop is entirely about making memories and building experiences, and that comes down to a team who are knowledgeable, passionate and go above and beyond.
We are so looking forward to this next chapter, and a bigger horizon, but we'll never lose sight of what makes our (small) world go round - and that's real, human connection.
Lots of Love,
Dawn, Romilly, Lizzy, Jenni, Beccs, Millie, Lionel Bear (Shop Dog) & Ronnie Barker (Shop Dog In Training)