A San Francisco toy store said to have inspired the “Toy Story” franchise is closing down due in part to the “perils and violence” of the city’s downtown area

Jeffrey’s Toys, which calls itself the “oldest toy store in San Francisco,” was founded by Birdie Luhn in 1938 as a variety store

The store was rebranded after World War II to focus exclusively on toys

Since renamed “Jeffrey’s Toys,” it is now run by the fourth and fifth generation of the Luhn family

Matthew Luhn, the great-great-grandson of the store’s founders, grew up working in Jeffrey’s Toys

He studied animation in school and eventually landed a job as an animator for Pixar’s original “Toy Story” movie

Luhn told SFGate that his family toy store inspired the film: “We would have my dad come to give us ideas,” he said. “For almost all the ‘Toy Story’ films, we always went to Jeffrey’s Toys”

The toy store has since fallen on hard times

Once expanded to numerous locations across the Bay Area, there is now just one location, in downtown San Francisco

Last month, Luhn told the SFGate that due to inflation, lower foot traffic, and crime in San Francisco, the store would close in early 2024

“Every year we say we’ll hold on one more year and then we keep taking money out of our own retirement accounts,” he said, adding that the store has seen declining revenue for years

Last week, Jeffrey’s Toys announced an “all things must go” sale, writing on Facebook that the company is approaching its “Finish Line ( in a couple weeks )”

The family’s lawyer said its closure was caused by the “perils and violence of the downtown environment, inflation, the decrease in consumer spending and the demise of retail across the world”

In an interview with the Washington Post, he urged the city to “prosecute crimes that have been plaguing retailers for several years, address the houseless challenge and have more police patrols,” citing danger to customers and employees as a contributing factor to the store’s demise

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