Pioneer Square old-fashioned-toy shop packing up
The Pioneer Square purveyor of low-tech toys will close its doors Jan. 31 after a monthlong liquidation sale. Customers say the 30-year-old store is more than a trusted outlet for stuffed animals, wind-up gadgets and wooden toys. It's also a makeshift puppet theater and a neighborhood hub.
"It's just a friendly place — it's like going home," said Gigi Sather, who has worked in Pioneer Square for 11 years.
Owner Doug Norwood, whose father opened the store in 1972, admits that sales are off 15 percent this year, and it's no secret that Pioneer Square has struggled since last year's Mardi Gras riots and Nisqually earthquake. But Norwood says he's closing the store for personal reasons, not because of the economy or neighborhood.
The store's five-year lease is up in February, and Norwood said he's worn out from the seven-day-a-week retail grind.
He hopes to land a sales job with more traditional hours, allowing for more time with his wife, Susan, and children — Marlena, 8, and Frankie, 4.
"The rent could be free for the next year, and I'd still be making this decision," he said. "I've reached a point in my life where I've just got this ache to do something else."
Norwood's father, Will, started the business on South Jackson Street, selling handmade dulcimers (string instruments), wooden toys and second-hand items. The store moved to Occidental Avenue South in 1974 and to its current three-level location on First Avenue South in 1983.
The store is a full-fledged family operation. Norwood spent a good chunk of his childhood there, along with brother David and sister Amy. His mother, Marcia, helped run the store for years and still pulls the occasional fill-in shift. He sometimes brings his children to work with him.
Norwood, 41, took over as his father neared retirement in the early 1990s. He still runs the store with the zest of a child, greeting visitors with puppet characters like Chuck the Dog and Grumpy Old Man. He's also a featured attraction on the Ride the Ducks tour, popping out for an impromptu sidewalk puppet show whenever a Ducks driver honks.
"It's a great ice-breaker when people walk into the store," Norwood said. "You can really put them at ease. You can also drive people crazy, but most of the time, people enjoy it."
Wooden toys now make up less than 10 percent of sales, but you still don't need batteries for most of the shop's merchandise. While most of the toy industry has gone electronic, Wood Shop Toys lures customers with old-fashioned playthings such as kites, games, stuffed animals and wooden rocking horses.
"If you can find it at Toys R Us or Target or Costco, we're probably not going to have it," Norwood said.
The store has kept customers and passers-by laughing for years with its irreverent window scenes. The current one, "Grandma got run over by a reindeer," was created by Norwood and store employee Daimian Lix.
Customers have reacted to the store's looming closure with hugs and tears. Shirley Jenkins of Capitol Hill got teary Monday when Norwood told her the news.
Jenkins has been a customer since the mid-1970s, sometimes looking for a present but other times just browsing. The store has always given her a lift, she said, particularly a few years ago, when she dropped by after physical therapy while recovering from back surgery.
"I would come in here to cheer myself up," she said. "It really spurs your imagination, and you feel that wonderment of life."
Norwood said he's looking forward to relaxing on summer weekends, being able to head for the lake or a barbecue instead of being tethered to his store.
But closing up shop for the last time isn't going to be easy, he said. "It's kind of like putting down a pet," he said. "This really is breaking my heart."
Jake Batsell: 206-464-2718 or jbatsell@seattletimes.com.