A toy store or toy shop is a type of

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

business specializing in selling

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

s; usually ones marketed towards

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

History

The first toy store was founded in 1760 by William Hamley in London, under the name of "Noah's Ark", later renamed to Hamleys. Set over seven floors, a Hamleys branch at 200

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George IV of the United Kingdom, George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash (architect), J ...

in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, Central London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster. It is west of the City of London an ...

opened in 1881. The famous toy store in New York City, FAO Schwarz, was founded under the name Schwarz Toy Bazaar. It was founded in 1862 by the German immigrant, Frederick August Otto Schwarz. The former largest toy retailer in the United States, Toys "R" Us, started business in 1948 by Charles Lazarus, a veteran of World War II. In 2015, FAO Schwarz closed, and did not reopen until after Toys "R" Us went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

in 2018.

Notable examples

* Hamleys, listed in the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

'' as the world's oldest toy shop *

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1948 in Washington, D.C.; its first store was built in April 1948, with i ...

, international company now Tru Kids *

FAO Schwarz FAO Schwarz is an American toy brand and Toy store, retail chain. The company is known for its high-end toys, life-sized stuffed animals, Interactivity, interactive experiences, Product placement, brand integrations, and games. FAO Schwarz clai ...

, famous American brand and store * The LEGO Store, official store for

Lego Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...

s * Build-A-Bear Workshop, company specializing in make-your-own stuffed animals * Learning Express Toys, franchise of specialty toys * Smyths Toys Superstores, Irish toy store * Ri Happy, Brazilian toy store

Economics

Today, toy stores face competition from the online toy market. As a result, many large toy retailers have been rendered bankrupt. These competing websites include

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

. Toys "R" Us cut prices in an attempt to compete, but it ultimately ended in failure. As Jeff P. Bezos explained, "For a toy store to survive, they've got to create the kind of fun that Amazon can't." Toy Stores that adopt this model by increasing in-store interactivity have been more successful in maintaining business. Another model many stores have adopted is an online alternative, specifically for the individual retailer.

Gender-based marketing

There can be a large gender bias for the marketing of certain products. This includes using color to market products to a certain gender, or only showing one gender to market to that specific demographic. On the U.S. Disney Store website, the toys for boys are predominantly red, black, brown, or grey, while the toys for girls are mostly pink or purple. However, the toys meant for both boys and girls were mostly of the same color palette as the toys for boys. Handmade-toy-shop-homansbyen-oslo

References

External links

''Inside Toyland: Working, Shopping, and Social Inequality,''
by Christine L. Williams, University of California Press, 2008. {{Authority control Retailers by type of merchandise sold