Surprise toy spree for family
It was an early Christmas for the McGinley family after they won a toy shopping spree at Farmers Albany.
The conditions? $1,000 and only five minutes to grab as much as possible.
Hayley McGinley says she and her son Braith, 4, tried to shop strategically, remembering birthdays, Christmas, and a fundraising auction at their community kindergarten.
‘‘We’re just trying to pay it forward a little bit as well, because this doesn’t ever happen for us [normally],’’ says the Albany mum. ‘‘We were trying to give as much as we get.’’
The pair picked items including Lego, Micro Boats and two scooters.
The competition lasted five minutes and baskets were placed at the end of each aisle to be filled up.
Staff kept time and a running commentary to let the McGinleys know how much more of the spree was left. Once time was up, they then sat down with staff to do a tally of how much had been spent, and decide what they wanted to keep.
McGinley said the family would ‘‘allocate the toys slowly’’, and all except two had been put away for birthdays or Christmas.
To enter the nationwide competition, customers had to swipe their Farmers club card when purchasing any toy. Farmers toy buyer Stuart Gray says the competition was ‘‘a bit of a first’’ and was inspired by a toy grab sale which ran in July.
He says McGinley - mother of two - was ‘‘the perfect candidate to win a prize like this’’.