Bricks & Minifigs Tucson has reemerged in a larger, brighter space, giving LEGO enthusiasts an expanded hub for creativity, community and play.

After four years of steady growth, owners Jerry Louis and Becky Burnett have transformed their passion project into a destination for builders of all ages, offering rare sets, custom minifigures and bins of loose bricks ready for imagination to take shape.

The Burnetts celebrated the store’s grand reopening in its new location last month, after leaving careers in the medical field to become entrepreneurs and grow their family.

Visitors to the store’s new location at 4730 E. Broadway Blvd. are greeted by the sounds of bricks shifting as customers sift through large bins of LEGO pieces in search of the right parts.

An assortment of prebuilt and boxed LEGO sets are displayed throughout the store, with popular titles including Minecraft, Harry Potter and Super Mario lining a wall near a model of the Taj Mahal.

The Burnetts’ passion for the LEGO brand and its community has made the store a dream come true.

“There’s a lot of different ways to engage people with this product because it’s a toy, but there’s also an artistic element to it; the possibilities are limited to your own imagination,” said Jerry Louis “JL” Burnett.

The new location includes an expanded selection of new and vintage sets, pieces, minifigures, accessories and more.

JL Burnett said LEGO connects on a human level, with the brand experimenting over the years with different types of minifigures to reflect its diverse community of fans.

“For kids specifically, they can have a little person that they can imagine inside their vehicle or inside their house, and they can become that person,” he said, adding that LEGO allows customers to create custom characters with different looks and accessories.

Those who enjoy crafting their own designs can experiment with build-your-own minifigs or find the right pieces for their creations from the store’s large selection of individual bricks.

The store also buys used LEGO sets, allowing for a frequently changing inventory.

Diehard fans can celebrate birthdays and milestones at the new location, with the Burnetts saying the store draws attendees of all ages.

“I’ve always had an interest in hands-on activities. Since I was little, I was always messing around with things, always wanting to create. I enjoyed LEGOs because I had that ability to just create what I wanted,” said University of Arizona freshman Brenden Kruszewski.

Kruszewski grew up with a passion for space-related sets and a love for Star Wars. Now, as a college student, he still enjoys building space-themed LEGO sets as he pursues a degree in aerospace engineering.

Bricks & Minifigs is one of three official LEGO stores in Tucson.

With a legacy spanning more than 90 years, the LEGO Group has been the world’s largest toy company since 2015 and, along with Mattel, one of the largest educational toy companies worldwide.

“I feel like since they’ve been dabbling into a lot more franchises, they can connect with a lot more people on a personal level and contribute to a lot of people's personal interests,” Kruszewski said.

Trevor Gribble is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and Tucson Spotlight intern. Contact him at tjgribble@arizona.edu.

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