Toys R Us to Flatbush Blockbuster Location

Snarkslope.. I am sure you are a very nice person and not snarkey at all!

Every person's experience is their own but since I was the one that brought up long time shopping habits in Little Things ( and if I had not someone would have because it is the longest standing toy store in the Slope) I have to say that consistently all the staff has been helpful and courteous, Every business is out for your money but the illusion of making that not "seem so" is part of the art of a good retailer and THAT has been my experience in LT for many decades.

snarkslope wrote: Wait, Toys R Us shows contempt for Park Slope specifically, or just shame on them for...existing? And for not being the almighty Little Things, where the shopkeepers glare at you when they deign to look in your direction? I have been here for over a decade and I've been to Little Things for many a last minute present, but they are way overpriced and surly and I fail to see how they contribute to the neighborhood. And if you think they are not "here for your money" as well as Toys R Us, it's time for a business primer.

Not for existing. For coming here and staying six or eight months, siphoning business without putting any roots or taking any real risk in the neighborhood.

And no, I do not believe that Little Things or Area Kids or any of the other shops around here are non-profits bent to do good in the name of goodness. No, they make - or try to make - a profit, but they do it by becoming part of the fabric of the neighborhood. For me that is a huge difference. They are also independent stores, owned by real people and not some faceless juggernaut.

I just walked in front of the TRU Express at Flatbush and saw another sing of the marvelous sensitivity of their approach. The whole facade is covered with their trademark freaking blue. Not a bit of the original is free of it. What a wonderful addition to the visuals of the neighborhood.

As for Little Things, I've been there a bunch of times with or without kids and my partner. No one time I've found them unpleasant. Every time they've got out their way to help. Same with other people I've seen around the store. Similar experiences at Area Kids and yes, also at Toy Space. Which is why I really feel one should give business to these stores, and not to some temporary outpost of a behemoth.

since when was everyone in park slope a communist?

toys R us can open ANYWHERE they please.

you don't want to live in a capitalist society, you are in the wrong country. if you thought that the HUGE blockbuster space was going to become a quaint organic toy store with children of all nationalities frolicking while their parents sipped kombucha, you are a little out of the loop.

we are in a SEVERE recession (despite what some people think) and if you walk down 7th or Flatbush lately (or anywhere else in the city for that matter) you will see vacant store after vacant store. people are STILL losing their jobs and the economy may be sputtering again.

and here we have people saying they don't want to see stores filled and don't want to see new jobs (even if for 6 months). it's absurd.

and how DARE toys R us put their store colors and logos on their store!! i've never seen a store or bank do that before!! (guess you didn't realize it was a BLUE blockbuster before that). and you might not want to look across the street at chase bank if you don't like the color blue either.

you people are nutty.

belzjm wrote: since when was everyone in park slope a communist?

toys R us can open ANYWHERE they please.

you don't want to live in a capitalist society, you are in the wrong country. if you thought that the HUGE blockbuster space was going to become a quaint organic toy store with children of all nationalities frolicking while their parents sipped kombucha, you are a little out of the loop.

we are in a SEVERE recession (despite what some people think) and if you walk down 7th or Flatbush lately (or anywhere else in the city for that matter) you will see vacant store after vacant store. people are STILL losing their jobs and the economy may be sputtering again.

and here we have people saying they don't want to see stores filled and don't want to see new jobs (even if for 6 months). it's absurd.

and how DARE toys R us put their store colors and logos on their store!! i've never seen a store or bank do that before!! (guess you didn't realize it was a BLUE blockbuster before that). and you might not want to look across the street at chase bank if you don't like the color blue either.

you people are nutty.

If you think that a simple call for supporting local stores is a proof of being a communist, you are flippin more than burgers.

I am not picketing in front of their freaking blue store or lobbying for getting them ousted. I am simply asking other people with a bit of local sense to think with a sense of community and to act with their wallets accordingly. Since when is anti capitalist to chose how to spend your money in a discerning manner?

This recession is severe - hey, we even agree in something. I do not want to see the independent businesses around me go bankrupt in favor of some temporary clone store put out to catch profits and to run. thereafter.

As for the "BLUE", Blockbuster never painted all the facade. They had their ads up and about, but creating a huge blue mess was not their thing.

Eat some pistachios and get over the habit of calling people communists and nuts just for the heck of it.

puply wrote: [quote=belzjm]since when was everyone in park slope a communist?

toys R us can open ANYWHERE they please.

you don't want to live in a capitalist society, you are in the wrong country. if you thought that the HUGE blockbuster space was going to become a quaint organic toy store with children of all nationalities frolicking while their parents sipped kombucha, you are a little out of the loop.

we are in a SEVERE recession (despite what some people think) and if you walk down 7th or Flatbush lately (or anywhere else in the city for that matter) you will see vacant store after vacant store. people are STILL losing their jobs and the economy may be sputtering again.

and here we have people saying they don't want to see stores filled and don't want to see new jobs (even if for 6 months). it's absurd.

and how DARE toys R us put their store colors and logos on their store!! i've never seen a store or bank do that before!! (guess you didn't realize it was a BLUE blockbuster before that). and you might not want to look across the street at chase bank if you don't like the color blue either.

you people are nutty.

If you think that a simple call for supporting local stores is a proof of being a communist, you are flippin more than burgers.

I am not picketing in front of their freaking blue store or lobbying for getting them ousted. I am simply asking other people with a bit of local sense to think with a sense of community and to act with their wallets accordingly. Since when is anti capitalist to chose how to spend your money in a discerning manner?

This recession is severe - hey, we even agree in something. I do not want to see the independent businesses around me go bankrupt in favor of some temporary clone store put out to catch profits and to run. thereafter.

As for the "BLUE", Blockbuster never painted all the facade. They had their ads up and about, but creating a huge blue mess was not their thing.

Eat some pistachios and get over the habit of calling people communists and nuts just for the heck of it.

I support local when I can. I must pinch every penny I have and simply cannot afford my local family run shops. I save those times for special gifts or family gifts. But having a child who was pretty much getting invited to birthday parties every weekend I like to have a place that I can purchase something for a reasonable price or to even send a gift certificate to someone out of state.

Toys R Us also offers diapers, formula, etc. and they have a great discount program for new parents that really saves you some extra $.

I also give them props or allowing each individual store to donate up to $3,000 for local causes in the neighborhood they lease in. A few years ago the Toys R Us that used to be in Fulton Mall donated over 100 backpacks to children who lived in poverty. The backpacks included all the items they would need for the school year.


@Carni - they are pretty much the same price as the larger stationary stores but unfortunately everyone I know goes to Staples and by the time some people get there the stuff is all sold out. I think it would be nice to have another option.
As I see it both are important to a neighborhood scene.

I think that a TRU location, either a permanent location or a popup will do very well in this location IF they offer delivery. There's no way I'm buying some giant toy, or a bicycle or a stroller or a PS3 (or whatever number they're up to) if a) I can't park a car nearby or b) if I can't get it delivered. Otherwise, I'll just get it on Amazon.

But, maybe the Express locations don't carry these things, so the point could be moot.

Agree with the other posters who want to see something in this space that is not a mobile phone store.

puply wrote: [quote=whynot_31]Do I have to buy American made automobiles as well?
i.e. Is Detroit part of the neighborhood/community I must protect?

....do I have to support business models and mind sets (such as the sacredness of "small town america", and what we are entitled to as "richest country in the world") that do not work?

Why can't I pursue rewarding companies that aggressively compete, and realize that I have choices where I can spend my money?

....aren't these companies the ones that give America a chance at again competing on a worldwide scale? (American wages have to fall if we are ever going to compete in the world market again)

Happy Friday.

Oh, no! I imagined for a second I had convinced you to buy a Ford, ditch all Chinese products forever and move to Nowhere, USA. Too bad is not to be...

Look at it this way, I'm 41. You have only have to tolerate me posting here and my shopping habits for a maximum of 60 more years. ....tops.

puply wrote: And no, I do not believe that Little Things or Area Kids or any of the other shops around here are non-profits bent to do good in the name of goodness. No, they make - or try to make - a profit, but they do it by becoming part of the fabric of the neighborhood. For me that is a huge difference. They are also independent stores, owned by real people and not some faceless juggernaut.

2 serious questions:

1. What does a store like Little Things do to contribute to the neighborhood? I'm serious. Is there outreach/charity work I'm not aware of? A discount to Prospect Park members? Or are they "part of the fabric of the neighborhood" by existing? I'm not trying to be combative, I am just genuinely interested in learning what is behind the knee-jerk "independent stores are always superior" mentality.

2. Yes, local stores are owned and manned by "real people," but who do you think work at chain stores? People whose financial burdens and responsibilities are no less real than others'. I have become friends with several of the employees of Barnes and Noble, for instance, and believe me, if that store were to go out of business, those REAL people would lose their real salaries and have a hard time paying their real rent.

I'm not anti-local stores, obviously. Just anti-local sucky stores. A local store I love is the pharmacy on 8th and 8th. The pharmacist is old-fashioned, has tons of knowledge and common sense, and knows his clients and their families. I trust him totally. I go there because the experience is a thousand times better for me than at Rite Aid. But if Rite Aid were to go out of business, I'd feel terrible for their employees, who have nothing to do with the "evilness" of the empire that hires them.