The Store That Inspired Toy Story Is Closing After 86 Years

Jeffrey's Toys, San Francisco's oldest toy store and the store that inspired the Toy Story franchise, is closing. On Friday, Jeffrey's Toys announced that it will close permanently at the end of February, citing San Francisco's issues of crime and violence in its downtown area as a major factor in the closure. The store has operated in San Francisco for 86 years.

"The store has been struggling for a number of years, due to the perils and violence of the downtown environment, inflation, the decrease in consumer spending, and the demise of retail across the world," attorney Ken Sterling told the San Francisco Chronicle. "The family is saddened it has come to this and we've explored all other options to try and keep the business going."

According to their website, Jeffrey's Toys started as a five and dime store in the Bay Area in 1938, Birdie's Variety Store, named after Birdie Luhn. Following World War 2, Birdie and husband Morton shifted from a variety store to a toy store with Birdie's Toy House in 1952. Their sons, Manny and Joel later joined the business, and in 1996, the store was renamed Jeffrey's Toys. The store has remained family owned.

As for how the store inspired Toy Story, Matthew Luhn worked for Pixar as a story artist and writer in the mid-1990s and the store served as a reference for all the Toy Story films.

"During Toy Story, we would have my dad come to give us ideas," Luhn said in 2023. "And when we did reference for almost all the Toy Story films, we always went to Jeffrey's Toys. My dad just closed up the store and said, 'Just play, have fun and let me know if you need anything.'"

Toy Story 5 Is In The Works

Last February, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that the company is developing new sequels, including a new Toy Story and Pixar chief Peter Doctor — who co-wrote the story for 1995's Toy Story and 1999's Toy Story 2 — has teased that the new sequel may not be exactly what audiences expect.

"The thing we've been really trying to do, and this has been the case for a while, is we've been looking at them a little bit like, okay, we're not planning for the future. When we made the first Toy Story, we had no idea there would be a Toy Story 2," Docter said of the first full-length computer-animated film that earned nearly $375 million, the second-best box office of '95. "We're just trying to make this movie. But that in making the movie, it takes you places, unexpected places, which is what I love about the creative process. If I knew exactly what I was doing when I started making a movie, there'd kind of be no point in making it. I discover so much along the way." 

Because Pixar didn't make 2019's Toy Story 4 with a sequel in mind, Docter said, "I think it'll be surprising. It's got some really cool stuff that you haven't seen before."

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