Known as one of Canada’s top retailers of water sports and surf apparel, Cottage Toys has been delivering top of the line product in and around our city now for 24 years. With its main store located at 180 Charlotte St., owner Donna Rork and her staff live by their slogan that they are “Serious About Fun!”

The store offers exactly what is in its name: cottage toys. From wakeboards and stand up paddle boards to water trampolines and tubes, you’ll find just about everything possible to use to play on the water with. What most people will also know as soon as they walk in the store is that Cottage Toys has an absolutely amazing clothing retail section that carries many of today’s top brand names. Billabong, Quicksilver, Roxy, Gues, and Element are just a few of the brands you will find lining the walls from floor to ceiling.

As the seasons change, you will find so many different clothing options in the shop—from winter coats and toques in the winter to shorts, T-shirts, pants, and dresses in the summer. They also carry many great accessories like watches and sunglasses year round, to go with their incredible swimwear selection that is also always available. The bargain basement is always a big hit, housing lots of out of season product at discounted prices.

Cottage Toys has always been expanding: They first opened in Lakefield in 1989, next in Peterborough the following year and more recently opening 3 years ago in Bancroft and this past summer a shop opened up right on Stoney Lake! Having been in the business for 24 years now has allowed Donna to gain valuable experience and with four locations, she is able to specialize at each of them. One of her goals is to sell what makes sense at each location. So each shop is customized for where it's situated.

Even though many other stores carry the same brands, Donna is able to offer unique products you won’t find in many other places as she orders specific items unlike box stores who order the status quo that you’ll find at every store. She is always looking to get the best value out of her products and stands behind what she sells.

At Cottage Toys, customer service is a top priority and this can be felt as soon as you walk into the stores. Staff is trained to have vision to help customers buy the best product and treat the customer with absolute respect. Donna wants everyone to enjoy coming into the shop and keep coming back!

Cottage Toys has always been happy to be apart of the downtown community in Peterborough and does quite a bit for the city. They have sponsored local sports teams, and donated to the PRHC, James Fund and Hospice Peterborough to name just a few.

They are happy to be taking part in the DBIA Black Friday event and invite you to come in and see what they have to offer. They promise you won’t be disappointed!

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For more on Cottage Toys (180 Charlotte St.), go here:
Web: CottageToys.ca
Twitter: @cottaget
Facebook: Facebook.com/cottagetoys‎
Phone:

Peterborough location: (705) 741-2150
Lakefield location: (705) 652-6852
Bancroft location: (613) 332-5013
Stoney Lake location: (705) 652-3000

For more on Downtown Peterborough and the Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), click here.

—By Aaron Elliott