ALTON - Funky Planet Toys & Gifts will be marking two years in business with a celebration event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday, July 22.
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Funky Planet Co-Founder Sage Macklay discussed everything attendees can expect at the event, as well as the store’s backstory, on a recent episode of Our Daily Show! on Riverbender.com.
Local musician, author, and illustrator Steph Plant will be there at noon for a free concert and book reading. Copies of her newest children’s book, “Slithery Snake,” and albums of children’s music will both be for sale at the event.
“We’re going to have sales in the store all day, we’re going to have a pop-up shop from Apple Creek Sugar Mill - they make cotton candy with like 50 different flavors,” Macklay said, adding cotton candy will be available starting at 10 a.m.
After the Steph Plant concert at noon, Macklay said they’ll be hosting “a free Kids’ Yoga Class” at 2 p.m., taught by Stephanie Greenhalgh of Riverbend Yoga. Participants are advised to bring their own yoga mats.
Funky Planet is located at 10 E. Broadway in downtown Alton, and Macklay said the area has a great business community.
“We love being downtown, there’s just such a great community of other business owners and just customers who like to hang out downtown. They want to come out, get lunch somewhere, do something else, go shopping at all the different shops,” Macklay said. “It definitely feels like a close-knit community with the business owners and customers.”
She added that Funky Planet is the first-ever physical store to carry the card game “What’s Your Excuse?” created by a Bethalto resident, which is currently sold out online. The store also has a new shipment of tabletop games, painting books, and much more which can be seen on their Facebook page.
Macklay said she appreciates the support she’s gotten from the Alton community these past two years.
“I think things have grown and gotten better for us faster than we expected,” she said. “We’ve met our goals faster than we thought we would, so it’s really been an awesome amount of community support.
“I think word of mouth really has helped us … it’s just spread really organically like that.”
Funky Planet Toys & Gifts will also be at the Night Markets on Broadway from 6 to 10 p.m. on July 21 and July 28, in the pocket park next to Jacoby Arts Center at 627 E. Broadway.
To find out more about Funky Planet Toys & Gifts, visit funkyplanettoys.com or visit their Facebook page.
The full interview with Macklay can be watched at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
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