La Ribouldingue

Very disappointing experience at Ribouldingue, especially considering this is supposed to be a store welcoming to children and families. I was there with my partner and our 1-year-old son. Our son was interested in the train table and the little cars, as you would expect from a baby in a toy store. He was supervised the entire time and was not breaking, throwing, or damaging anything. An employee named Alain came over and started telling our 1-year-old “no, no,” because he apparently didn't want him playing with the cars on the train table. What I found particularly uncomfortable was that instead of speaking to us, the parents, he was repeatedly addressing our baby directly and even extending his hand toward him asking for the toy back. I came back over and let my son play a little with the train set. Alain then returned AGAIN and once again started telling my son “no, no.” At that point, I asked him why he kept doing this. His explanation was that my son “might” break something or that the car “might” scratch something. I told him that my son wasn't doing either of those things, because he wasn't. I completely understand that employees have a responsibility to protect merchandise. If my child were actually damaging something, I would immediately intervene. But there is a big difference between stopping a child who is damaging merchandise and repeatedly hovering over a supervised 1-year-old because of something he MIGHT do. What made the experience particularly upsetting for me as a mother was watching an adult repeatedly approach my baby and tell him “no, no” when he wasn't doing anything wrong. He became visibly uncomfortable. At one year old, he obviously doesn't understand concerns about scratching a display or store merchandise. If Alain had a concern, he could simply have spoken respectfully to me or my partner and allowed us to handle our own child. Instead, we were made to feel as though our baby wasn't welcome to touch or explore the toys in a toy store. After the second interaction, we decided we didn't want to stay somewhere our child was being made to feel uncomfortable, so we left. I rarely feel the need to write reviews like this, but this experience genuinely bothered me. A children's toy store should understand how to interact appropriately with very young children and, more importantly, how to communicate concerns respectfully to their parents. Unfortunately, after the way Alain treated our 1-year-old, I would not feel comfortable bringing my son back here.

I had an extremely disappointing and uncomfortable experience at Ribouldingue because of the way an employee named Alain interacted with our 1-year-old son. Our son was playing with some toy cars around the train table while we were right there supervising him. Alain came over and repeatedly told our ONE-YEAR-OLD “no, no,” insisting that he couldn't play with the cars on the train table because he might scratch or damage it. What bothered us most was the way the situation was handled. Instead of simply speaking to us as the parents and politely explaining whatever rule the store has, Alain repeatedly addressed our baby directly and made him visibly uncomfortable. At one point, he even came close and extended his hand toward our son asking him to give the toy car back. You would think that after expressing his concern once, that would have been the end of it. It wasn't. When my partner came back and let our son play a little more with the train set, Alain came back AGAIN and started telling our son “no, no” for a second time. When my partner finally asked him why he kept doing this, Alain said that our baby might break or scratch something. My partner pointed out that our son wasn't breaking or scratching anything—and he wasn't. This is a TOY STORE. Children are naturally going to be interested in toys, especially when there is a train table/display accessible to them. Obviously, parents should supervise their children and prevent them from damaging merchandise, and we were doing exactly that. If there is a specific rule about which toys can be used on the train table, then communicate that politely to the parents. There was absolutely no need to repeatedly hover around a 1-year-old, tell him “no, no,” and reach toward him for a toy when he wasn't damaging anything. The whole interaction made us feel as though our son was being treated like a problem simply for behaving like a normal curious one-year-old in a toy store. After Alain approached him yet again, we had had enough. We simply left. We came into a children's toy store expecting a welcoming environment where families and young children would feel comfortable. Instead, we left because an employee's repeated behavior made our baby and us feel unwelcome. Parents of babies and toddlers should know about our experience before deciding whether this is the environment where they want to bring their children.

Good amount of board games in French and decent selection of board games in English. The staff is very nice and friendly.

Very much fun to go in and enjoy the store

We checked this toy store out and discovered they were celebrating their 35th anniversary serving a slice of their anniversary cake by family members greeting clients (I thnk we were greeted from André). This is such a great big toy store with so much to offer from hobbies from toy animals, Lego peices, puzzles, Barbies, little dress up costumes, books, and way more. There is so much they have an online catalog listing. There is everything here for every budget in mind. What a great place with 2 floors to it. So much to see and discover.