- Bricks & Minifigs LEGO store will open in Gainesville's Newberry Square at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31, operating seven days a week with varied hours.
- Owner Kurt Kazlauskas spent $40,000 to $50,000 on LEGO inventory and aims to build community connections including charity support.
- The store offers buying, selling, and trading of new and used LEGOs, plus a party room and various LEGO-compatible products.
That’s what Gainesville’s new Bricks & Minifigs LEGO store aims to let people of all ages do after opening its doors in Newberry Square at 10 a.m. on Jan. 31.
Equipped to buy, sell and trade new and old LEGOs, the Bricks and Minifigs storefront at 1281 NW 76th Blvd. will operate seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Equipped to buy, sell and trade new and old LEGOs, the Bricks and Minifigs storefront at 1281 NW 76th Blvd. will operate seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Saturday’s grand opening will feature LEGO and local business giveaways, food, music and a 20-foot inflatable LEGO mini figure.
For a chance to win a free Harry Potter set at the opening, customers can take a picture with their favorite minifig outside of Bricks & Minifigs’ new storefront, post it to their story on social media and tag @bamgainesville by Jan. 30.
“A lot of LEGO people have come out of the woodwork,” said Gainesville Bricks & Minifigs owner Kurt Kazlauskas. “When I talk about this, people, either they themselves are into LEGOs, or they have a direct connection to someone who is very into it…It’s a community.”
Kazlauskas said he’s always been “the LEGO guy.”
When he’s home, Lord of the Rings sets are his favorite to build. When he’s at work as a full-time pediatric nurse specialist at UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital, Kazlauskas uses LEGOs to build relationships with his patients, often bringing them sets or mini figures.
“I do the burn population. Well, that’s tough stuff,” he said. “And I can connect with the kids through LEGOs. I have a LEGO on my badge at work, and kids are like, oh, this guy’s into LEGOs just like me.’ It helps me bond with them and helps build rapport.”
Kazlauskas had never heard of Bricks & Minifigs until two years ago, while on his son’s travel baseball trip. He looked up LEGO stores in the area and multiple Bricks & Minifigs popped up.
By the time Kazlauskas stopped in the fourth one, he said he was scanning the QR code on the wall for more information about opening his own Bricks & Minifigs.
Kazlauskas signed a franchisee contract in January 2025, completed a few weeks of corporate training in Utah, started construction on the Newberry Square storefront and began gathering inventory. He said he spent between $40,000 to $50,000 on LEGOs from Facebook Marketplace for his store.
The Gainesville location is one of more than 100 across the U.S. and Canada since Bricks & Minifigs first opened in 2010.
“I had LEGOs as a kid, I fell out of it when I was 13 or14,” he said. “And then when my kids were three and five, I bought a bin of LEGOs off Craigslist for them, and now, here I am.”
Kazlauskas said his Bricks & Minifigs has something for everyone, ranging from 10 cents to $700.
Across from a wall filled floor to ceiling with brand new LEGO sets, used Stormtrooper helmets and Thanos’s Infinity Gauntlet LEGO line shelves behind a glass checkout counter, which will be filled with over 4,000 minifigs.
Customers can sort through the minifig maker bin, fit with legs, torsos and head pieces, and browse walls of LEGO plants and unopened retired sets no longer in circulation.
Bricks & Minifigs also carries LEGO-adjacent and compatible brands for products like base plates, display stands, lightsabers, greeting cards and customizable hats.
The party room, which will have a LEGO racetrack inside, can be reserved for birthdays, clubs or company events.
When LEGO builders are ready to trade old sets and pieces for new ones, Kazlauskas said his store offers cash and store credit in a meticulous price calculation process.
He said he and the store manager inspect each piece, marking certified sets with all their original pieces and verifying the condition of uncertified sets where pieces might be missing.
Bricks & Minifigs prices sets and pieces using software that matches multiple LEGO pricing websites, such as eBay and Brick Lab, which is owned by LEGO.
Kazlauskas said that unlike any other toy, LEGOs allow children and adults a space to relax when life gets busy and make something to collect.
“The possibilities are just endless. There’s no limit to what you can do, how you can put [pieces] together,” he said. “I used to be a big puzzle person, and then when I got into LEGOs, building the LEGO sets gave me what building puzzles had given me; just letting my mind go, seeing myself in something that involved some kind of stimulated thinking about where this needs to go and how this needs to work while you block out distraction.”
Kazlauskas said he aims to grow his business to a point where it can give back to the community. He said he wants to support local charities and organizations, like the children’s hospital and Ronald McDonald House.
Anyone interested in receiving exclusive discounts and events while supporting Bricks & Minifigs can join the Bricks & Minifigs Founder’s Club.
