Business Community

A Curious Bear is coming to downtown Gig Harbor

A new toy store is coming to the downtown waterfront district.

Kindship will open its second The Curious Bear Toy and Book Shop in the former Bird Nest Gallery location at 3202 Tarabochia St. Kindship owner Jennifer Luna hopes the store will open by May 1.

Kindship is the parent company for several stores Luna operates. They include two Paper Luxe locations (in Fircrest and Uptown Gig Harbor), Little Luxe Baby and Kids in Uptown, the Kindship studio on Point Fosdick Drive, and the original The Curious Bear Toy and Book Shop in Fircrest.

“I’m excited to bring the magic of a toy store to that space, to Gig Harbor, to travelers coming through,” Luna said.

Toys and books for kids

Luna’s first store was the Paper Luxe in Fircrest. She soon saw the need for another, different kind of store.

The Curious Bear Toy and Book Shop is coming to the downtown waterfront district. It will be the second Curious Bear location, one of several businesses owned by Jennifer Luna’s Kindship company. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Luna

“I’m a mom of three girls, and when I opened the first store, Paper Luxe, the top-selling category was the children’s section,” Luna said. “I couldn’t find anywhere other than big box stores to buy toys. There was a space two doors down to Paper Luxe, so I thought I could take that category and create a toy store. So we ran with it. That was almost eight years ago.”

Luna said the name Kindship reflects the work she does through all of her stores. 

“Everything is centered around thoughtful gifting and celebrating your people,” she said. “We have the gift and stationary store, toy store, studio space for baby showers and bridal showers, and the baby store, so that’s our guiding principle and we extend that into different areas.”

Gig Harbor’s Curious Bear

The Gig Harbor Curious Bear will be smaller than the Fircrest location, with about 1,000 square feet to pack with toys and books.

Curious Bear focuses on curating smaller, local brands, Luna said, while also bringing in national brands such as Jellycat and NeeDoh. Luna said The Curious Bear offers as many handmade items as possible, as well as popular national brands.

“We sell crazy amounts of Jellycat to adults, and grandmas, they buy it as well,” she said. “It’s wild to think that’s part of what has fueled our success, things that adults and kids enjoy.”

Riley Luna, daughter of The Curious Bear Toy and Book Shop owner Jennifer Luna, reads to children at the Fircrest location. A second location will open in May in the former Birdnest Gallery, 3202 Tarabochia Street. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Luna

Grandparents and parents prefer to give the children in their lives something fun but educational, Luna said. The goal with The Curious Bear Toy and Book Shop is to provide a mix of toys that appeal to children, but also have heirloom quality.

Much of the inventory is science- and math-based. The idea is to provide a balance between the toys that the kids absolutely love and what the parents love giving, she said. 

“We try to avoid inexpensive stuff that will get thrown in the trash,” she said. “We want heirloom toys that can be passed down and have longevity.”

Her team of 23 are able to help out in all of her stores, she said.

“I have a great team,” Luna said. “I’ve been in business now for 13  years. In the beginning it was just my. Mom and I, but my top membership team leaders have been with me for seven years.”