Last original store booted from Horton Plaza

Horton Toy & Doll, the only remaining locally owned original tenant at Westfield Horton Plaza, is closing its doors indefinitely today.

The family-owned store opened with the downtown mall in 1985 and is also its only toy shop.

Co-owner Kam Azimzadeh said he still had four years left on his ground-floor lease at the mall, but owner Westfield notified him two months ago that it was terminating the lease so it could move CVS to that location.

Two other stores, florist House of Stemms and Platinum Tan & Skin Bar, are also being closed to make room for CVS.

Horton Plaza declined to comment about the shuffle and who will be moving into CVS’ current spot. Azimzadeh said the mall could already be laying the groundwork to redevelop the dated property.

“They are ultimately going to close the whole mall for about six months to renovate,” he said, with the exception of a few key tenants such as Jimbo’s Naturally, CVS and 24 Hour Fitness.

Azimzadeh and his wife Zinat Rasekh do not have immediate plans to reopen elsewhere, and they’re not sure they will be able to afford a new lease with the mall once the renovation is complete.

Everything in Horton Toy & Doll is discounted between 50 percent and 70 percent until the store closes for good tonight, although Azimzadeh said he has already sold off most of his inventory over the last two weeks.

The Internet has posed greater competition for bricks-and-mortar stores like his in recent years, but Azimzadeh said the shop still got a steady amount of traffic, especially from long-term customers, some of whom began shopping there as parents and now come in to buy things for their grandchildren. He and Zinat have owned the business for about half of its nearly 30 years.

“Thirty years is almost a whole generation,” he said. “It’s a very sad moment, and also a very heartwarming moment for us, because people have been coming in to thank us and say goodbye. The downtown community has been so good to us.”

The Azimzadehs said for now they are going to take a few weeks to relax, and will then probably focus their efforts on their online model airplane store, ezToys, because it does well and has even surpassed their sales at Horton Toy & Doll.