San Mateo’s toy story nears end

Talbot’s is the first toy store she went to as a youth, the Aragon High School student said.

Former San Mateo resident Greg Frediana, 62, stood Thursday outside the store where he bought bikes.

“It’s an institution,” he said.

The family-owned business at the corner of Fifth Avenue and South B Street near Central Park announced Thursday the end of the store that is home to more than 45,000 toys. No last day has been set for the business Betty and Lank Talbot began in the 1950s.

Earlier this year, Talbot’s Cyclery at 415 S. B St. had announced its plans to close and, at that time, there were no plans to shutter the toy store.

In the age of Amazon, retail stores seem to have an uncertain certain shelf life.

Shirley Moore, one of the owners working at the store Thursday, said the squeeze on brick and mortar stores with serious customer service is strong. 

“It’s hard for a store of this size to continue,” Moore said. “It reaches a point where that’s not working.” 

San Mateo resident Maureen James, whose mother took her to Talbot’s as a baby, said the closing reflects the fate of many longtime retail stores in the central business district.

“Downtown is prime property,” James said. “Retail like Talbot’s has a limited life.”

Golden State Warrior Klay Thompson, along with 49ers Joe Montana and Steve Young, were among the famous who came with their families to shop, store manager Daniel Janoska said. Sporting memorabilia they signed is at the front of the store.

Janoska said singer Neil Young bought Lionel train sets at Talbot’s. 

A favorite of shoppers, the downtown San Mateo site is also where 23-year old Kylie Young started her first job. The San Jose State University student, majoring in environmental studies, began as a holiday employee and worked for six years at the store.

“It was a great starting job,” Young said.

She recalled her speed at gift wrapping, fellow workers joking about the task becoming an Olympic event and her ability to wrap a present in 15 seconds.

Family-owned stores are dwindling in the age of the internet when people shop by computer, said Young. 

Ten-year-old Ethan Blanding of Palo Alto was disappointed that the store, his family’s favorite for toys, will be no more.

“This is the only store my grandparents go to,” Blanding said.

Agniezka Winkler of San Mateo, whose family shopped at the store for 40 years, said her sister will cry when she learns about Talbot’s last days.

Winkler  spoke about the traditional gifts that were Talbot’s focus and recalled buying the toy Tiddlywinks for her granddaughters.

At the building the company’s website calls the “Peninsula’s finest toy store,” a wood carving of Geppetto and his creation Pinocchio, along with Jiminy Cricket, is displayed. Its $11,000 price has reduced by more than half. 

Shoppers exiting the store Thursday passed by a 6-foot-tall Sigikid stuffed bear with a $500 price and a ‘sold’ sign.

Talbot’s owner Moore said an employee bought the stuffed animal for his parents, who had to have a bear in their Tahoe cabin. 

Alan Quigtar, 35, began coming to Talbot’s at the age of 8. He moved from San Mateo to Seattle three years ago and was buying books Thursday to read to his 11-month-old daughter Jill.

“It’s fun coming here,” Quigtar said. “I’d like to see it open for another 60 years.”

ryan@smdailyjournal.com

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