If you’ve ever wanted to be a superhero, pilot an X-wing fighter or know how to make a living on the island of Catan, chances are James Cowling can help you.
Cowling is the proprietor of The Puzzle Factory, Salmon Arm’s newest toy store, which opened last week at 170 Hudson Ave.
This venture, which he has embarked on with store general manager and fiancé, Nicole Brighouse-Warren, is a natural for Cowling, a board game fanatic.
“I saw a gap that needed to be filled,” says Cowling about opening the store. “There had been a couple of good toy stores here in the past and Salmon Arm really needs one and I thought, what’s better than a toy store? I like people to be happy and you can’t come into a toy store and not be happy if there’s something cool to play with or cool to see.”
Half the store consists of children’s toys – largely battery-free offerings, ranging from blocks and toddler play items, to Lego and Playmobil, to dolls and puppets. The other half of the store is a mix of board and role-playing games and, of course, puzzles.
Why such an emphasis on board games?
“I speak as sort of a recovering video game addict – up until six months ago I was playing World of Warcraft for hours every day,” says Cowling.
“There’s something much more healthy about getting families together, getting people together to sit around a table and play a game and talk and enjoy themselves… and be social and meet other people.”
Cowling already has plans for game demos and workshops at the store where people can try their hand at Heroclix, Magic: The Gathering, or, in Cowling’s words, “learn how to beat your grandmother at Scrabble.”
And Cowling says he’ll be bringing in his personal collection of boardgames, about 300 in total, so people can learn more about a particular game before they buy.
While the store’s grand opening was Saturday, Cowling said that on his first two days alone in business response from the community has already exceeded expectations.
“People are coming in here and saying, ‘Oh my God, this is so great.’ And sales yesterday were really good,” says Cowling. “I’m kind of just overwhelmed with the response.”