On July 17th, it was announced that Newcastle would get its very own LEGO Certified Store. It was an exciting time for us at Rainbow Bricks and many other LEGO fans in Newcastle/Hunter area. It was a pleasant surprise as other states didn’t have a LEGO Certified store, and we had been told that Newcastle wasn’t on the list currently.
No longer would we need to travel to Sydney and visit one of the two Sydney LEGO Certified Stores [Bondi, the first and flagship store or to Broadway] to pick up the latest set, LEGO store exclusive or get something off the Pick-A-Brick wall [PAB] or Minifigure elements in the BAM [Build A Minifigure]. Now we had our own local LEGO Certified Store! 🙂
Hoarding went up around the store location as the store was fitted out. A store manager and staff were hired and trained while we all waited patiently for the grand opening.
When the LEGO Certified store was announced, we set up a Facebook page and a Facebook group to keep people informed of the elements on the PAB wall, Minifigure elements in the BAM, store exclusives and general store information. If you aren’t part of the group, you can join it here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1367515630107260
Finally, the store opened on August 24th with a soft open due to COVID guidelines in place and with the first few days being limited to a few lucky shoppers before it was opened to the general public on August 26th.
It is always a fun time visiting the store, and over that time, many of us have made new friends through the store. The staff are awesome and always willing to help any way they can. We even have a couple of Rainbow members who work there.
Let us know what you enjoyed about the first year of the LCS Charlestown?
12 months later and many trips later, we arrived at the store’s first birthday, and once again, COVID guidelines are spoiling any plans the store had.
Despite this, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the staff and management! Charlestown is a great store, and the community which has sprung up around it love visiting the store for their LEGO addition. Here’s to many more birthdays and maybe one day a big splashy Birthday Party!! 🙂
Visit their online store:
http://lego.bricksmegastore.com/