Definition of "rushed off your feet": Carol Bromby and Jackie Rodill, owners of Toys n' Stuff, in the two weeks before Christmas.

Like certain people at the North Pole, they prepare early for this crazy period. "We go to a toy fair in New York in February and do a lot of buying for the year."

In order to keep up with demand at this time of year, they have to bring in up to two extra container loads per week.

"It's a bit overwhelming," says Carol.

The two sisters started Toys n' Stuff 17 years ago in a tiny store above what is now part of the Gibbons Company. They were in partnership with Neville Dyers and originally started with just toys before moving into baby equipment.

Carol says that they moved into the baby equipment sector because it makes the business less seasonal. Babies tend to arrive all through the calendar but Christmas only comes once a year.

Over the years they have seen tremendous changes in the products available to mothers and babies: "Just about every mother who is on her second child says that it's completely different to when she had her first," says Carol.

The product development people at companies such as Johnson's and Gerber are responding to demands for products that will ease the strains of the early months with a new baby. New products also reflect a trend of mothers on the move - baby paraphernalia has to be more convenient and portable.

Carol herself is a good example of the demands on a modern mother: she recently had her first child, Courtney 16 months ago.

Right now she is juggling the demands of motherhood with a burgeoning business, but at least she doesn't have far to go if she needs some extra baby equipment!

Carol explains that she gets a lot of help from her own mother in looking after Courtney.

Do Courtney and her cousins get the best Christmas presents on the Island? "Actually I'm such a procrastinator that I let all the good stuff go," laughs Carol.

One of the challenging aspects of the business is keeping up with the huge amount of suppliers.

Unlike clothes retailers who might carry half a dozen different lines, or a record store where you are only dealing with a few different labels, a toy store deals with potentially hundreds of different companies ranging from big names Mattel and Hasbro, Little Tikes and Lego through to smaller companies producing hand made collectors toys. Another aspect of the trade is keeping up with the "hot items". Remember the Cabbage Patch Dolls, Buzz Light Year and Furbie crazes of yesteryear?This year it's Bratz dolls - large headed trendy dolls wearing hipsters and chunky shoes: "They're flying off the shelves," says Carol.

Also popular are the "Groovy Girls" and "Power Puff Girls". No wonder Barbie has a complex.

For boys, Carol says the season's big sellers have been Spiderman and remote control skateboarders - literally a male doll riding a skateboard. Definitely one for the "what will they think of next" category.

And replacing Pokemon in the trading card stakes is a cartoon called "Yu Gi Oh." (You can make your nephews think you're really on the ball if you mention that one....)

Asked whether there are fewer guns and war toys on the market these days, the sisters agree: "There seems to be less demand. I saw in the paper there was an article on war toys recently, we tend to stay away from that somewhat."

Jackie adds that in terms of general trends, some of the oldies are still the favourites: Easybake ovens are still really popular. Apparently these toy ovens actually cook things.... a law suit waiting to happen.

As for how they keep up with what is an upcoming "hot item" Jackie says "You can tell by what's being pushed on TV."

If they notice that certain toys are selling out, they can get an extra order in a couple of weeks. As long as shipping goes according to schedule.

It seems to be a case of not being able to get merchandise onto the shelves fast enough. Whereas in other shopping centres, toy stores will attempt to attract more customers with extravagant window displays, Santa annexes and other gimmicks, at Toys n' Stuff, they're simply trying to keep up with demand.

They moved into their present premises to get more space. One of their aims was to keep the store "more open" with wide aisles allowing mothers more room to manoeuvre.

Having come from such a tiny first store, the present shop initially seemed enormous, but they are already growing out of the Church Street premises.

Carol says that in the New Year they are planning to reorganise the layout to try and make the most of their space.

Asked whether they have considered two separate stores, one for baby stuff and one for toys, Carol agrees that they could justify a second shop: "If I could bear the thought of having two stores..."

"If we branched out, I would like to do children's clothing. That's a big if."

According to their suppliers, Toys n' Stuff is the biggest toy dealer on the Island, but it is still run as a family business and despite the huge potential for growth, there seems to be limits on how big they can get.

Carol and Jackie are always there in the front line helping with sales and their mother is also involved. Carol's husband handles haulage from the containers to the stores.

The owners are remarkably hands on in their approach to the store: Carol is shifting boxes and toys around as we speak.

She's used to hauling things around: "I used to do a lot of riding and I was constantly having to pick up bales of hay." Not much time for horse riding these days, unfortunately. She says she would like to get back into it.

They currently have about seven full time staff and ten doing night shifts. But its a moving target, with extra staff brought in at the week-ends and during the Christmas period. The staff have to turn their hands to a variety of different tasks, sales, clerical and unpacking.

If the owners could find the time, it is conceivable that Toys n Stuff could follow the similarly named Toys R Us model and move into larger warehouse premises. There would be a major market for larger outdoor equipment like trampolines and climbing frames that currently tend to be special order items.

Toys n' Stuff also have a children's furniture special order business that could be expanded. For the present,however, they seem to have their hands full running the business at its current size. But it wouldn't be surprising if someone came along and made them a very handsome offer for this business. One thing's for sure, the baby business is growing up fast.