“We appeal to almost everybody,” said Brian Woodruff. “It really runs the whole spectrum.”
The store recently was noted by Continuum Games of Indianapolis for outpacing Internet sales of its family dice game, Lumps. Puzzles Plus, the only store in Beavercreek to carry the game, resulted in higher Lumps sales than online retailers including Amazon and eBay, according to Greg Hughes, inventor of Lumps and co-founder of Continuum Games.
The store will be stocking items the couple found while attending a recent toy trade show in New York City. One offering is an activation card that allows the buyer to download mystery party games, including dinner party murder mysteries, Sandy Woodruff said. The couple also is expecting an updated version of the classic Rubik’s Cube.
The Woodruffs worked as teachers of math and statistics before deciding to open Puzzles Plus in the fall of 1995. Brian Woodruff retired as a major in the Air Force and Sandy Woodruff retired as a college-level instructor. The two spent about a year researching businesses and merchandise before deciding on a shop for puzzles and games. Their decision was influenced heavily by their trip to a small puzzle shop in New Zealand several years earlier, they said.
The store and its stock has evolved, the Woodruffs said. Shoppers can find 3-D globes and pyramids. Among the unique features of the store is the childrens’ section with a large selection of 100- to 300-piece puzzles, typically harder to find at other stores, Sandy Woodruff said.
The couple can help customers find puzzles of many sizes. The smallest, a 234-piece puzzle, includes plastic tweezers and measures 4-by-6 inches. The largest, a 24,000-piece puzzle, measures about 14-by-5 feet when completed.
Puzzles Plus is located at 1273B N. Fairfield Road in Fairfield Plaza. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call (937) 320-1679 or visit www.puzzlesplus.net.
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