An Old School Toy Store Struggles to Survive on Market

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Jeffrey's Toys is an old school toy store and one of the few remaining of its kind. The toy and hobby shop lacks any form of ecommerce and avoids electronic-based games. And the store continues to turn a profit. The third-generation shop owner Mark Luhn was forced to shrink his local chain from five locations to just the one at 685 Market over the past two decades, he's dedicated to the brick and mortar model. "OK, so people can now go on Amazon and get stuff in two days. Soon they'll be angry they can't get it sooner, so they'll call us first and go back to the shops," he told the Chronicle.

But troubled waters may be around the corner. A new landlord could potentially mean higher rent, with retailers flocking to downtown, Union Square, and the increasingly popular Mid-Market nabe. For now, as major renovations begin at the historic Monadnock Building, Luhn and his toys tore are allowed to stay. If the the new owner raises rent, Luhn says he's out of there—and though his loves Jeffery's current location, he'll seek out a lease elsewhere.

Correction: in a previous version of this story we said Jeffery's was in Mid-Market. It's downtown.
· Jeffrey's Toys gets 2nd chance in real estate game - for now [The San Francisco Chronicle]
· Brookfield bags historic Monadnock building for $82 million [The San Francisco Business Times]