End of a toy story: Turtle Pond closing in Dundas after 20 years
Owners Jon and Ingrid have been whittling down their stores as they edge into retirement
An almost 20-year chapter in Hamilton’s toy story is coming to an end.
Family-owned Turtle Pond Toys is closing up shop after selling toys, board games and puzzles out of University Plaza in Dundas since November 1998.
The move will give the store’s owners a chance at retirement.
“I honestly kind of feel like a teenager,” said Ingrid Zemitis, who owns the shop with her husband Jon. “Like when you’re 20 and you’ve finished school and you don’t know what you’re going to do next.”
The pair, who lived in Dundas but moved to Jordan about a decade ago, have slowly been shuttering their five stores over the last several years. They headed into this year with three shops remaining after previously closing Funnybone in Westdale and Turtle Pond Toys in Waterloo.
The St. Catharines store closed in January, followed by the one in Niagara Falls over Easter.
This weekend, the lease is up on the Dundas shop — the couple’s first location.
Saturday — the final day — is expected to be busy with shoppers taking advantage of discounts (the store’s fixtures are for sale, too).
Whatever doesn’t go will be packed up Monday and Tuesday and brought back to the Zemitis’ home in Jordan.
“We’ve got a big garage,” joked Jon, who used to own the Broadway Cinema.
Over close to two decades, the owners have seen much change through their shop, from watching customers grow up, to experiencing fads in kids’ toys, to seeing how technology has impacted their business.
When the store first opened, the internet and Amazon were not what they are today. To bring value as an independent retailer, Jon said they’ve always tried to keep up with what their customers want and stay one step ahead.
That has meant changing their offerings to include everyone from infants to adults, selling strategy games like “Settlers of Catan” and “Ticket to Ride” and bringing in gift items like novelty socks.
Despite the increase in online shopping, there have always been people who prefer to come in the store and touch, see and feel what they’re getting, said Ingrid, who also owned Treasure Island Toys in Toronto for 10 years before coming to Hamilton.
Leaving the Dundas community, the customers and the store’s loyal staff will be the hardest part of the decision to close, she said.
But after decades in the toy industry, both owners are looking for a change. Jon wants a chance to recharge his batteries and read some books, while Ingrid is eager to plant vegetables at their rural property and perhaps wind up selling them at a local market.
As for the future, Ingrid isn’t ruling out starting something locally in Jordan — a business without a landlord, rules and set hours, she said.
There’s nothing like the toy industry, though. “I don’t think there’s anything more fun than a toy store,” she said. “It’s been a very fun business to be in.”
The departure of Turtle Pond Toys is not the only recent change to the plaza owned by RioCan on Osler Drive.
Canadian Tire is expected to take over the lease of the existing Metro grocery store and renovate the structure into one of their retail shops and auto service centres. Meanwhile, Beverly Tire & Auto plans to relocate its University Plaza shop to a new, larger eight-bay service centre at a property next door to the RioCan site.