Nooooooooo! Toys et Cetera Closing After 30 Years

A postcard arrived in my mailbox last week announcing the final three months of a three-decade old business at 711 Main Street: Toys et Cetera closes its doors on June 15, 2013, for good.

I'll admit that when I first saw that postcard, I crossed my fingers that it was just marketing schtick. If you've ever passed a That's Our Bag store in Chicago, you know exactly what I'm talking about (One reviewer on Yelp says of That's Our Bag: "Every few months, they post signs that say, 'Going out of business' and 'Closing our doors after 20 years.' BOGUS!! The scam is clearly geared towards the tourists.").

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Unfortunately for Toys et Cetera in Evanston, it's no schtick. One of the saddest things I learned in my discussion with owner Nancy Stanek is that the store's been home to one toy store or another since the 1930s.

According to Stanek, a shift in Evanston shopping habits, staffing difficulties and poor building management led to her decision not to renew the Evanston location's lease.

"It's really sad," Stanek said in a recent phone call. "We've had a loss of business, and we've seen a shift in the way people shop in Evanston."

"Evanston used to be known as a place with small shops...places from north to south...that took people shopping everywhere," she said. But when downtown Evanston was developed, "it took a lot of life out of the small businesses," she continued. Stanek says other Main Street merchants share these same feelings.

While Stanek has referred to Toys et Cetera's manager, Valerie, as the "toy maven extraordinaire", she says it's been difficult to find and maintain consistent staff to work in the store.

Additionally, working with the building management has been extremely challenging, Stanek said. "We did most of our own improvements, which were beyond the scope of a tenant's responsibilities, including putting in our own air conditioning."

Stanek says Toys Etcetera's three other locations, all in Chicago, will remain open. The closest store is at 5311 N. Clark St.