Photo by Malia Riggs
Virginia Zozzoli is the manager of Swoop, a children’s clothing and toy store at 251 Rele St. in Mountain Brook.
Virginia Zozzoli is the manager of Swoop, a children’s clothing and toy store at 251 Rele St. in Mountain Brook.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about working in downtown Mountain Brook?
A: Honestly, I think it would be interacting with the community. I'm not from here, so it's always fun to meet people here and see how warm they are towards people that are not necessarily from Mountain Brook. It just feels like a very tight community. It's kind of sweet because everyone knows each other so it's very neighborly.
Q: What’s the age range for the products carried in the store?
A: I feel like our store is mostly catered towards the ages of three and up. We have both clothes and toys for girls and boys. On the clothing side, one thing that differentiates us from other stores is that we carry high-end brands like Stella McCartney and Marc Jacobs. As for toys, I think the owner does a great job with choosing different toys. That's where I hear from a lot of people. She likes to bring out a lot of old-school toys that people her age grew up with. So when they come into the store, they always make comments about, oh, I used to play with this when I was younger, and they try to, I guess, teach their kids in a way. I think that's really special.
Q: Do you offer anything in the store besides the products on display?
A: We do offer gift wrapping but besides gift wrapping, something we offer — and a reason many customers like to shop here — is a very personalized shopping experience. I know that shopping for gifts for kids can be a little bit hard sometimes if you don't know them that well. So people are always looking for us to help them choose and based on whatever is best selling for certain ages or based on what that kid likes, we like to make recommendations and people usually are very open and like that.
Q: What’s something you’d like customers to know about the store?
A: I feel like we’re more than just a toy store or a store that you can come and shop. I think from what I’ve seen, this is a store where you can bring your kids to play while you shop. There's a lot of things that we have that they can play with so it's not just an experience where you come and shop and go, but you can come to the store and entertain your kids for a little bit. A lot of people do that before they get dinner or before they go somewhere with their kids who like to come in the store and have them have a little bit of fun.
