UPPER EAST SIDE — A popular toy store that's been a neighborhood fixture for 10 years will close at the end of the month because of slow sales, the management said.
Very Good Toys East, located at 1020 Third Ave. at East 61st Street, plans on selling its last play thing by July 31, a man who identified himself as the store's owner recently said.
The man, who called himself Aziz, said the Web had long chipped away at his brick-and-mortar business.
So when his $31,000-per-month lease came due, he just didn't feel like renewing, he said.
"It's too high to begin with," he said of the rent for the 1,800-square-foot space. "We didn't bother to renegotiate."
The store — which stocks items ranging from plastic figurines to board games to Barbies to temporary tattoos — will be selling off its inventory at a significant discount until closing, Aziz said.
Employees will be transferred to the business's other storefront, Very Good Toys West, located at 2328 Broadway at West 84th Street, Aziz said.
