Post Toys R Us fall, Utah County toy stores doing fine
David Castillo, the vice president of The Red Balloon Toy Store, demonstrates how to use a kendama toy in the store at the Prove Towne Centre mall on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, in Provo.
David Castillo, the vice president of The Red Balloon Toy Store, poses for a portrait in the store at the Prove Towne Centre mall on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, in Provo.
Toys sit on the shelves at The Red Balloon Toy Store at the Prove Towne Centre mall on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, in Provo.
A toy train setup available to the younger customers is pictured on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 at the newly opened Teton Toys in Lehi. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
A toy train setup available to the younger customers is pictured on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 at the newly opened Teton Toys in Lehi. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Wes Gardner, owner of the newly opened Teton Toys, poses for a portrait in his store with his dog Sawyer on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 in Lehi. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald
Toys R Us made waves in the toy industry this summer when it closed all its U.S. stores as part of its bankruptcy liquidation process. But for local toy store owners, the behemoth’s closure was a small blip.
Utah County toy store owners have been unfazed by these ripples, because they say Toys R Us was never a major competitor. David Castillo, vice president of The Red Balloon Toy Store, explained that their specialty toy store has always been unique from the big-box toy retailer.
“When my parents bought the business 25 years ago, my father, Yamil Castillo, originally thought he needed to slash prices to compete. But he learned he really wasn’t competing with them,” Castillo said. “When a big-box store is choosing a product, they look for what will sell itself with minimum interaction between customers and employees. But we expect our employees to have a conversation with everyone that comes in the door.”
Castillo said that more “engaging experience” is what keeps customers coming back, and contributes to the store’s success. So, while other major retailers are shuttering their doors, Castillo and his family are expanding. They opened a new Red Balloon store just two weeks ago in South Jordan. Their four other Red Balloon stores are located in the Provo Towne Centre Mall, Sandy, Salt Lake City and Logan.
Castillo said the toy industry overall is doing very well. He credits very creative toymakers for the innovative and quality toys available to children today. He firmly believes children need to play with toys as part of their development, and getting the right toy into the hands of a child is his mission.
He enjoys playing with toys as well, and said the kendama — a wooden skill toy — is still his favorite. He said he’s tried multiple times to escape the family business, but keeps coming back.
“The more I continue to play with toys, I can’t escape,” he said with a laugh.
Despite his love for the business, it is not always just fun and games, especially with the advent of Amazon. Amazon, he says, is the bigger threat than Toys R Us ever was.
“Now everyone has the internet in their pockets,” he said. “The toy industry as a whole is adapting.”
Wes Gardner, owner of Teton Toys in Lehi, agrees.
Gardner said when he opened Teton Toys in 2015 along State Street at the border of American Fork and Lehi, he never planned to compete with Toys R Us. Instead, he wanted to create a shopping experience that encouraged play and exploration. He hoped customers feel like they are at home, just with a really big closet of toys.
“I wanted to create the sense that it’s your toy store. My customer really isn’t going to like the experience of shopping at a Toys R Us or a Walmart or a Kmart,” he said.
Gardner said, especially in Utah County, his most “scary competitor” is Amazon.
“My goal has always been to have the breadth of inventory Amazon has — that’s not to say we have everything, but we sure have a lot,” he said.
Despite his efforts, it frustrates him to see customers shopping the shelves of his store to find what they want to order on Amazon. In Utah County, he sees this happen more than in his flagship store in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. For families in here in the valley, price is a key point.
Castillo and Gardner both believe differentiating their store experience from the online shopping encounter, or even big-box retailers, is the key to their success. One important differentiator is their store employees.
“I challenge anybody to find better customer service. My employees are just the nicest people you’ll ever meet. They represent me well,” Gardner said of his Lehi workers. His team there is very knowledgeable about everything from Mattel to Melissa & Doug.
Castillo trains his employees to knowledgeably speak about the toys at Red Balloon — from Playmobil to newer ones focused on encouraging interest in science, technology, engineering and math. And like Gardner, he encourages customers to explore and play.
“No one, even Amazon, has yet been able to re-create the employee who has played with the toys and knows the selection,” Castillo said.
Creating a true space for creative play is also important, Gardner said, and that can only be done in brick-and-mortar toy stores. Gardner loves it when mothers bring their young children to play with the Teton Toys in-store kitchen set or train table. Castillo encourages this as well through their Smart Kid days where kids can come to the store and play with new toy sets or do in-store crafts.
All of these lead both men to feel hopeful about the future of toys, and their place in the market.
“The toy industry goes up and down with different toy trends,” Castillo said. “We feel like we’re up. We haven’t had the downward trend Toys R Us had.”
