Thinker Toys, an independent toy store recognized for its inclusive merchandise and community involvement, will close its Morgan Hill location after 15 years.
The store, located in Vineyard Town Center, will close permanently on May 4 following a clearance sale. The store’s other location in Carmel-by-the-Sea will remain open.
“After 15 years serving our local community from our Vineyard Town Center location, Thinker Toys Morgan Hill is permanently closing,” said Holly Horner, 35, who has owned and managed the business since 2020. “Our flagship store in Carmel-by-the-Sea will continue as it has since 1969, now as our only location.”
The closure comes after the property owner decided to lease the space to Monterey Credit Union, despite the area already being served by three financial institutions within walking distance. Despite extensive searching, the owners have been unable to find an affordable alternative locally.
“We have not been able to find a retail space of any size in Santa Clara County that we can afford in the long run,” Horner said. “We are not the only small business in this position. It is not the fault of a single person but the real estate system. This is the mechanism by which gentrification occurs.”
Horner, who has a degree in politics from UC Santa Cruz, explained the economic realities facing small businesses in the current market.
“Market rent, if you’re a bank or a fast food place, is about three dollars a square foot in Morgan Hill,” she said. “If you want to sell online, you pay five cents a square foot.”
The store opened in Morgan Hill in 2010 during the aftermath of the financial crisis when retail rents were temporarily depressed.
“In 2010 with the big financial crash, the real estate market was devastated,” Horner said. “There were no jobs, but there was a reasonable price on rent in retail spaces, which there never is.”
Under Horner’s management, the store developed a reputation for carrying diverse merchandise, including dolls of various skin tones and books featuring a wide range of identities.
“My big thing with this store was making sure that we had diverse offerings,” said Horner. “When I first started, we made sure we had a really diverse selection of picture books. I will never do business with any doll company that doesn’t have at least several dolls of color in their line.”
In 2016, the store designated itself as a “Safe Zone” with signage explicitly welcoming people of all backgrounds, and their commitment to inclusion extended further in recent years with the addition of Pride merchandise to their offerings.
“In 2021 we added Black Lives Matter and Trans flags to our front window and had our best sales ever,” Horner said. “Over the last five years, this little store has grown into a real safe space for LGBTQIA people. Our educational QUILTBAG display is our pride, and has allowed us to support the work of dozens of queer artists and other small manufacturers.”
The store’s commitment extends beyond merchandise to the local community, eschewing traditional advertising methods. Instead, they spend what money they would have on advertising giving gift basket donations to many local charities and nonprofit groups.
Brandon Rodriguez, 25, the store’s manager who started working at Thinker Toys in 2017 as a high school student, will relocate to the Carmel location.
“It’s very weird, because I have only ever known this place as Thinker Toys,” Rodriguez said. “It opened when I was 10. I even remember when the video shop left there, and that was the first time I realized, ‘Oh, things are not permanent.’”
Rodriguez, who grew up within walking distance from the store, noted the personal connection many locals have to the business.
“I started working here in 2017, looking for a summer job,” he said. “It was nice having a place that I could go to without having to drive or take a bus, because I didn’t have a car yet. I was still a teen.”
The toy store has prided itself on catering to all ages throughout its history, with “Toys for All” as its motto.
“We have infant toys, we have strategy games for adults, we have the large-piece puzzles with vintage illustrations for your grandma who doesn’t have great dexterity anymore but still wants to do puzzles that don’t look like they’re made for kids,” Horner said. “That is really something important to us.”
As the closure approaches, the owners have implemented a unique plan for the increasingly empty store space.
“As our inventory clears out, there will be more and more empty space in the store,” the business announced in a letter posted to its website. “We have decided to focus that space into the center of the store and start adding tables and chairs with games and coloring pages. Please use these spaces to hang out and meet each other. Bring fliers for your nonprofit groups. It is so important to make connections in this time, to not lose track of community.”
While the physical location will close, the owners plan to maintain a presence in the community by making appearances at local street festivals and other pop-up events in the area.
All merchandise at the Morgan Hill store is currently discounted by at least 50% through the closing date of May 4. The Carmel-by-the-Sea location will continue operations as it has since 1969.
Calvin Nuttall is a Morgan Hill-based freelance reporter.
