RHINELANDER AND MINOCQUA - Summer gets us outside playing games on the lake or in the yard, but with cooler temperatures this year, trips to the lake may not be as popular.

That impacts certain businesses in a good way. Imaginuity toys stores in Minocqua and Rhinelander have noticed a difference in the toys they've sold this summer.

"We're definitely getting a lot more traffic with the cooler temperatures. A lot more people in the door, which we're loving. We are seeing a lot more people buying more project based items. They're buying a lot of the active play but not so much the water active," said Jessica Hatch, Store Manager.

Rain keeps the store the most busy. People come in to find activities they can do indoors. Tourists also like to find toys that travel well. One of the most popular items is no-mess sand. It makes a great substitute for when the weather is too poor to be on the beach.

"If it's a sunny day, we'll have people walking up from Torpy Park in Minocqua just to pick up what they saw somebody else playing with on the beach and we have a couple hundred Waboba balls fly out that door," says Hatch.

Business isn't just limited to Minocqua. A new store in Rhinelander opened up last November, employees have been busy stocking shelves.

"This is our first summer so we don't really know what to base it on as far as whether it's better than what last summer would have been. But we were surprised with how quickly it got noticed. Our winter months were great we've had a very steady traffic through the summer," says Hatch

Imaginuity hopes to expand its business in the Northwoods. They want to add another store in the next year.

Story By: Melissa Constanzer