Isn't the obvious solution to take your business elsewhere if you don't like the shop?
Not sure what the alternative is in Ireland. It's either Smyths or World of Wonder, or the Toy Dept, in Tesco's or Dunnes, or a small toy store.
Smyths is a warehouse, with atmosphere to match. It's fine if you want to pick something up and you want to be reasonably sure they'll have it.
If you're bringing kids shopping and you expect the actual shopping experience to be in some way magical then you won't get that at Smiths.
Am I right in thinking that you can't even meet Santa at Smyths?
If the Big Red Guy doesn't endorse them then that maybe says something.
Smyths doesn't have a whole lot of competition so it hasn't yet picked up on the way Retail is moving. Anywhere there is competition be it for Clothing, or Electronics, or Toys, you'll notice the stores are trying to create that magical feeling. They realise that consumers will pay more for the goods if the experience of shopping warrants it.
You might pay 50 Euro for a Toy in a Warehouse, but if you can go to a shop where you're kid is constantly amazed by seeing toys being demonstrated, perhaps meeting the Red Suited One himself, perhaps getting a chance to play with some of the toys, you might gladly pay an extra 10 Euro for that experience.
I still get a kick out of seeing the Ferris Wheel inside Toys'r'us Times Square. I haven't actually been on it yet though.
It may be that Dublin can't support a Toy Store like that, so you get stuck with the likes of Smyths. I'd have thought the Brown Thomas New Money types would have been willing to pay for a top class toy store experience, so I'm surprised nobody's done it yet.
If it's only once a year for Christmas and you really wan't to give your kids a magical experience then consider jetting over to London. New York is probably a bit too much of a haul and more costly than the experience warrants.
-Rd