Local Lego retail businesses have yet to slow post-holiday

Spokanites of all ages were delighted to find Lego boxes under their Christmas tree on Monday, while retailers of the “plastic gold” are still seeing flurries of business after the holidays.

It was the first holiday season for both of Spokane’s Lego retailers, the Lego store downtown and Brick Buy Brick in the Garland District.

At the Lego store in downtown Spokane, which opened in November, dozens perused the shelves on Tuesday: some still buying gifts, some there to window-shop at the new store and some there to play.

Opened in April, Brick Buy Brick, a Lego trade and resale business, also saw an increase in sales leading up to the holidays. Bryce Colvin, who co-owns Brick Buy Brick with Frankie Foote, said he’s expecting business to continue to flourish as Lego fans visit the store to spend gift cards they received for Christmas.

“We didn’t know what to anticipate,” Colvin said. “So we were very happy with the outcome of how this first Christmas was for us.”

Ten-year-old Karsen Burzic and grandparents Kim and Tim Estes dug through Brick Buy Brick’s massive trough of loose bricks and filled up a plastic zip-closing bag to buy Tuesday afternoon. “Lego enthusiasts” isn’t a strong enough description for the trio. Karsen and Tim both had Lego sets under the tree Monday, but they were at the store the next day for more parts.

“I didn’t get enough,” Karsen said.

Karsen received an electric train Lego set for Christmas. He and Tim worked on it for about five hours since unwrapping it and have completed two of the cars. The two bond over their shared love for the plastic bricks.

“He’s the assembler,” Karsen said of his grandfather, who has more than 30 builds: Vehicles, gardens and scenes are displayed around his home.

“He’s the player,” Tim said.

“He was laying on the kitchen floor with the train track around him, watching it go around,” Kim said, describing her grandson.

Karsen could spend months digging through the bin of Lego bricks. Tim’s stomach is the only limiting factor keeping him from spending the day at the store.

“I’d get hungry,” Tim said. “Now if they sold food here …”

Downtown at the Lego store, 6-year-old Camilla Thrasher built several towers out of the larger bricks and flower-shaped pieces designed for younger kids. She constructed a handful of monuments for a fictional realm of her own imagination where residents live in flowers, including a flower kingdom and flower village, all harnessing energy from a flower crystal.

“Flower crystal, which is very special, makes all these flowers live,” Camilla said. “If it breaks, it will destroy them.”

She doesn’t have any Lego of her own, but plays with her older brother Ezekiel Thrasher’s collection of “millions” of bricks, the youngster estimates.

“They attach, and I can make pretty things,” Camilla said.

Ezekiel played in the build-your-own minifigure section of the store in a contest against himself trying to create the silliest combination of parts. His three contenders were named Ninja Boy, Martin and Scaredy Chicken Butt. The latter, with a gray wig, mermaid tail and tutu, claimed the title. Ezekiel could spend five years in the store, enough time to fine -tune his skills and compete on the Lego Master TV show.

“Can we come back tomorrow?” Ezekiel asked his mom, Julie Thrasher.

It was couple Yvonne and Rick Holland’s first time in the new store lured by curiosity, though their interest was piqued by the more complex assemblies marketed toward adults.

“You’ll see the kids in there playing with the Lego,” Yvonne said. “I think you’re always happy going into a Lego store or toy store.”

Monica and Jeff Jones took their grandkids to the store to select their own Lego set for a Christmas present. Six-year-old Ryan Switzer opted for an interactive Sonic the Hedgehog set; his brother Nathan, 10, chose a scene from “Harry Potter.”

“I think, picking it out, we got something we know we like,” Nathan said. “But sadly it wasn’t as much of a surprise, which makes it a bit worse, but personally I still liked it.”

While they’re the only two retailers in Spokane that exclusively sell Lego, Colvin said Brick Buy Brick and the downtown store aren’t rivals; they’re more like partners in brick-selling. Colvin’s shop, only seven months older than the downtown Lego store, benefited from the store’s opening.

“We complement each other; it’s kind of like a symbiotic relationship,” Colvin said. “I would say at least 25% of the total things sold within the first two months of the Lego store being open are going to come through our door.”

The two businesses have different specialties: The Lego store sells exclusives and new sets, while Brick Buy Brick offers vintage and collectible finds and hosts birthday parties and events.

Colvin has sent customers to the Lego store if they’re on the hunt for a set he doesn’t carry, he said. He hopes that with the location downtown, he’ll start seeing more Lego exclusive sets come through his door to be resold.

“It adds more Lego to the circulation to our local area,” Colvin said.

Some customers will spend the duration of the store’s open hours sifting through the brick bins, excavating for the perfect piece of plastic gold, Colvin said.

“We live in this neighborhood,” he said.

“We are local; we are neighbors. Our regulars are also our neighbors, so there is definitely a sense of community in this store.”