Arizona toy store forced to close over inflation after 24 years in business: 'Heart-wrenching'
Kidstop Toys & Books Owner Kate Tanner told 'Fox & Friends First' she’s closing her Scottsdale, Arizona, store due to rising rent and interest rates
Arizona toy store forced to close over inflation after 24 years in business
Kidstop Toys & Books owner Kate Tanner joined 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss why she is closing her store after decades in business and how the community is reacting to the news.
Due to rising costs, a toy and book store in Arizona is closing its doors after bringing joy to shoppers for 24 holiday seasons.
Kate Tanner, the owner of Kidstop Toys & Books in Scottsdale, joined "Fox & Friends First" on Wednesday, Dec. 21, during an "Inflation in America" segment.
Tanner opened up about what led to her decision to close.
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"I’m one of the fortunate ones because I’m of retirement age," Tanner said during her on-air interview. "A new landlord kind of made that decision for us by raising our rent by 25%."
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Tanner described the closure of Kidstop Toys & Books at 6990 East Shea Blvd as "heart-wrenching."
"We’ve gotten to know everybody in the soccer leagues, the soccer moms, the banquets that the schools raise thousands of dollars for to keep everything moving forward," Tanner said. "It was a long weekend of a lot of tears [and] hugs."
Tanner said she found a 7-year-old’s reaction to Kidstop Toys & Books closure to be heartbreaking because the child hugged her and told her the store shouldn’t close.
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"Every time you walk out on your floor and you up a price – and we’re not even upping it as far as we should – it’s painful," Tanner said. "I’m very blessed and fortunate that I’m in a position that I can decide to stop."
Kidstop Toys & Books is now offering 10% off on purchases in addition to holiday gift wrapping.
Kate Tanner told "Fox and Friends First" that Kidstop Toys and Books is offering a 10% discount on final purchases and gift wrapping, but many customers are refusing the discount. (Fox News Channel / Fox News)
"I can’t tell you how many people are choosing the gift wrap over a discount," Tanner said. "We have customers walking into our door refusing the discount."
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"It has been quite heartwarming and it’s also been heart-wrenching," Tanner continued.
Aside from rising rent, Tanner said climbing gas prices and shipping issues from last year have created "the perfect storm."
Kate Tanner (right), the owner of Kidstop Toys and Books in Scottsdale, Arizona, told ‘Fox and Friends First’ that rising rent, gas prices, interest rates and shipping challenges created a ‘perfect storm’ that led to her decision to close her store. (Fox News Channel / Fox News)
"First you had the shipping issues, which basically backed up shipping horrifically," Tanner said. "Some of us were fortunate enough. We have offsite warehousing, so we could load up last holiday season."
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She continued, "But then this year, with the rise in cost, inflation, interest rates going up, which pushed away future buyers of the business…that just added to it."