San Francisco's oldest toy store, which inspired Pixar's classic “Toy Story,” is closing for good after being open for nearly a century, due in no small part to the city's rampant crime and violence problems. The store has decided to close.
Jeffries Toys announced the news on Friday that it will close its stores at the end of February, bringing an end to its 86-year run as an iconic business.
“This store has struggled for years due to the dangers and violence of the downtown environment, inflation, declining consumer spending, and the demise of retail around the world,” attorney Ken Sterling said. san francisco chronicle.
“The family is saddened by this situation and have considered all other options to continue the business,” Stirling explained.
Founded in 1938 by the Luhn family, Jeffery's Toys once had several stores in the Bay Area, but has since shrunk to one last store in San Francisco's Financial District.
Founders Morton and Birdie Luhn had opened a 50 cent general store called “Birdie's Variety,'' but after World War II, the couple rebranded the store as “Birdie's.''・The company changed its name to “Toy House'' and sold only toys. Store website.
The store was eventually passed on to his grandson, Mark Luhn. His son and current co-owner Matthew Luhn worked at Pixar in the mid-1990s as a story artist and screenwriter.
“When I was working on 'Toy Story,' I had my dad come to me for ideas.” Matthew Luhn told SFGate in December 2023. “And for almost every Toy Story movie reference, we always went to Jeffries Toys. My dad would close up the store and say, 'Just play and have fun and if you need anything. Please tell me.''
The first signs of trouble came when business slowed during the pandemic.
The family is paying nearly $20,000 a month in rent, and the cost of keeping the store open has become unaffordable.
The rampant violent crime in San Francisco has also affected the store's staff.
Mr Rune said: san francisco chronicle One of his former employees was pushed up against the store's wall and nearly stabbed, police said.
Sterling accused “the leadership of the City of San Francisco and the Downtown Association” of allowing crime to pervade “a once-vibrant and fun downtown experience.”
Rune, who owns the toy store with her father and stepmother, said the local business was not making a profit despite “the money, the labor, the love.” Assistance from the city instead.
According to the latest research, the number of robberies across San Francisco in 2023 increased by a staggering 14.4% compared to the previous year. crime statistics.
San Francisco ranks safer than just 1% of U.S. neighborhoods and has a robbery rate more than 4.5 times the national average. neighborhood scout.
Jeffries Toys is just the latest in a long list of retailers to close due to the crime epidemic gripping the city.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began in spring 2020, about 40 retail stores have closed in the city's downtown area.
Starbucks announced in October 2023 that it will close multiple stores in downtown San Francisco, where crime is common.
Popular retailers such as Whole Foods, Old Navy, Saks Off Fifth, Office Depot, Athleta, Abercrombie & Fitch, Disney, Marshalls, H&M, and Gap are struggling to stop crime and homelessness in the city. These are just a few examples of businesses closing their doors without being affected. For many years.
Westfield San Francisco Center, the city's largest shopping mall, lost an estimated $1 billion in value after owner Westfield & Brookfield stopped making payments on its $558 million mortgage last year. It was reported that. real deal.
The mall has seen a mass exodus of high-profile retailers since last year, but the biggest hit was Nordstrom, as fentanyl “zombies” roamed outside among drug dealers and thieves. when it vacated the 312,000-square-foot, multi-story space in August. 35 years.
