The San Francisco toy store that helped to inspire the animators behind Disney’s Toy Story franchise is the latest retailer closing in the troubled left-wing city due in part to declining downtown foot traffic, rising costs, and spiraling crime.
Jeffrey’s Toys, which bills itself as “the oldest toy store in San Francisco,” is closing permanently on February 10, according to news reports. Matthew Luhn, who co-owns the store with his father and stepmother, told the SFGATE website in December that the store was struggling to stay afloat because of the rise of online shopping but also because of San Francisco’s downtown struggles — open drug use on the streets, shoplifting, and violence.
One employee quit working at the store after five years after someone pushed her against a wall and tried to stab her, Luhn told SFGATE. He also pointed blame at San Francisco leaders, saying that “we need a healthier relationship with the city,” including financial help and stronger efforts to crack down on the fencing operations where stolen goods are sold.
“We’re putting our money in, we’re putting our hard work in, and we’re putting our love into it,” Luhn said. “But, in the relationship we have with the city, that’s not being returned.”
The store initially opened in 1938 as a five-and-dime variety store called Birdie’s, before switching to selling only toys in 1953 during the post–World War II baby boom, according to its website. The store was renamed Jeffrey’s Toys in 1966.
The store has been owned and run by four generations of the same family. The Luhn family has been paying $20,000 per month in rent for its location on Kearny Street.
In the 1990s, Luhn was one of 12 animators hired for the original Toy Story movie. He told SFGATE that while they were making the movie, has dad would come in to give the animators ideas. “And when we did reference for almost all the Toy Story films, we always went to Jeffrey’s Toys,” Luhn said. “My dad just closed up the store and said, ‘Just play, have fun and let me know if you need anything.’”
Last week, Jeffrey’s posted a message on its Facebook page thanking it supporters and stating that “All things must GO,” as the store makes its “way to the finish line (in a couple weeks).” One commenter on the post suggested that they reopen in Texas where they “wouldn’t have to worry about all the violence, crime and drugs.” Another blamed the store’s impending closure on “SF leftists and your crime-enabling city government.” Another simply wrote, “NOOOOOOOOOOO.”
An attorney for the Luhn family told the Washington Post that the store “has been struggling for a number of years,” and that the closure was due to the “perils and violence of the downtown environment, inflation, the decrease in consumer spending and the demise of retails across the world.”
Coming out of the pandemic, San Francisco has struggled with rising crime, open-air downtown drug use, the proliferation of homeless camps, along with abandoned tech offices, leading several big-name retailers to leave the city. In 2021, Walgreens cited organized crime and rampant theft as a reason it was shuttering stores in San Francisco. Whole Foods shuttered its downtown store last year, a year after opening, due to deteriorating street conditions. A month later, Nordstrom announced it was closing both of its San Francisco stores because of crime.
Last summer, the owners of the Westfield Mall in downtown San Francisco announced they had stopped making payments on the property and were pulling out of the city. A National Review analysis of emergency-management data found that over three years authorities had been called to the mall more than 5,000 times for a variety of reasons, from shoplifting and purse-snatchings to reports of assaults, people with knives and guns, mentally disturbed people in crisis, and indecent exposure.
AT&T, Banana Republic, Starbucks, Target, Disney, and Anthopologie are among other retailers that have shuttered store in San Francisco recently.