jaZams — Local services in Princeton

A lot of thought has obviously gone into this place.

I visited Princeton for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago to see my daughter-in-law and 3-year-old granddaughter, and my daughter-in-law said we'd definitely have to pay this place a visit, and I'm glad we did.

A charming place, it's conveniently located in Princeton's downtown historic district. Although it has a roomy, welcoming feeling, it's considerably smaller than your standard chain toy stores in shopping malls, which means they have to make every inch count. They can't just stuff the place with whatever flashy gizmos the toy manufacturers want to push on them but have to carefully select what they know kids will find to be fun but that will also be educational for them.

As far as I could tell, they have succeeded magnificently. All the space is fully utilized, but you don't have to be afraid of knocking something over just from turning around; there is certainly room for kids to be kids. My granddaughter, who is being brought up in a home heavily oriented to reading and educational activities, loves this place. This visit, which was just before her birthday, she had her heart set on a little starter ukelele, which I bought her. It came with a little product card with the address of a web site where you could go to learn to tune the ukelele properly and begin starter lessons.

The place is staffed by friendly young people who are happy to make recommendations. If you are spending time in Princeton, I heartily...

Updated review:

Before Covid, this was a wonderful shop with interactive toy stations, a warm happy place you wouldn’t miss, especially at Christmas.

When they reopened after the covid shutdown, upon returning to business they enforced harsh gatekeeping policies that resulted in regular confrontations with adults and children alike, children humiliated and in tears, and the alienation of long time loyal customers such as myself.

I spoke at length to one of the owners about my concern, and she expressed an extreme ideological orientation and prejudice against people who chose not to follow Covid-era guidelines.

What she said was shocking to me. I have not returned to the shop since that conversation.

Normally I support small local business on principle, and I am even willing to pay a bit more for their products. I also understand that the retail industry was under immense pressure during the Covid era. This shop took a surprising approach that did not reflect values of freedom and tolerance but instead they enthusiastically embraced authoritarian compliance.

Because of the personal relationships and warm feelings I once had for this shop, their scolding my child, doorstep rejections, and harshness toward my other mom-friends hit quite hard.

And in retrospect, the lack of hospitality, nuance ,and diplomacy was, and still is,...

I’ll never forget when I patronized this store as a child myself about 15 years ago. I was about 8 or 9 years old at the time and I visited the store with my Taiwanese friend and her family. I purchased something and walked out with my paper bag. The co owner Dean Smith ran after me and asked me to open my bag, accusing me of stealing. The kid who rang me up didn’t give me a receipt and instead handed me a white slip of paper. Since he was so adamant that I had stolen something even though I had a bag that was given to customers, I had to go back inside with Dean and have this kid cashier verify that I did indeed purchase something which he did not give me a receipt for. I vividly remember this experience as it made me feel horrible. I hope since then this pathetic and rude behavior has changed but he is still a co owner. Every time I think about this store it gives me a bad feeling. I see the guy around town and always think about how this interaction made me feel as a kid. Maybe it is because I was a little brown girl that he thought I fit a description and run after me. My friend and her family were all like “that was weird” after. Poor treatment of a child is no way to run a toy store. Hopefully the guy doesn’t make accusations like that anymore but I wouldn’t count on it. Bet it wouldn’t have happened if I...