Family Central — Local services in Holland

You need to change your store hours. If you say you’re open until 8pm then all customers should feel welcomed until then. We are Christians and did not feel this was a Christian atmosphere. Me and my friend came at 7:15 with our children to play because your website says Whits End (the play center) is open until closing. But the lights were turned off. Even the music in the store got turned off. I asked if it was open and got a stern “no”. So me and my friend decide to sit on the couch by the beverage station and our children looked around at the books. Me and my friend weren’t aware, but while our children were browsing, the older white woman employee kept telling them, “this isn’t a library, put that down, that book doesn’t go there”—do not work at a family bookstore if you don’t like children! They even used the bathroom and the employee was hovering around the bathroom. They are 4 innocent girls just being girls. My daughter is quiet and shy, she wouldn’t ruin the displays or be disrespectful. But my daughter is dark-featured and it seemed she was being judged by her outward appearance. I don’t want to make it about race but that’s what it seemed to me.

My children have also played in your play area because I’ve been here multiple times before. Like another review stated, I have also experienced the employees making impolite comments to the parents and children. But I gave Family Central the benefit of the doubt so I kept coming...

To give a bit of dialogue… a very new 2 year old was excited when he saw the play area and expressed his excitement with shrieks of joy. Evidently, joy is not allowed because my daughter was told they were too loud.

My grandson attends various play groups in their hometown and one specifically, allows children to learn and express themselves in their own way and allows that to be a learning opportunity. So, for instance, children can put toys down the slide as a counting game, a color game or a name game. Again, my family was scolded that the plastic fruit going down the slide (no other children on or near the slide) was “wrong” and he needed to stop.

I cannot understand why they would have a play area if children are not allowed to play, use their imagination, learn, grow, and develop. Evidently, Focus on the Family believes there is a “right” and “wrong” way to play.

The fact that my 2 year-old grand-son was scolded by when his highly educated and rock-star mother was sharing a learning opportunity with her son...

My friend and I, me and my friend have visited and shopped here. The store has a lot of books and some very good gifts. Selections are wide and vary well and greatly. My friend has purchased a few wooden rings, and I browse around and look at the Christian military as well as the self help books to see a variety of ways of writing and perspectives. They have a really good area for children and it looks like they have classes, and may even have some sort of day care. There are many festivities and clubs by the looks of some of the things in there, so it be very good for a person to check out all things and to...