Hundred and One Toys to close
Monday 20th October 2008, 2:59PM BST.
TWELVE staff face redundancy when a popular Jersey toy shop closes its doors for the final time on 31 January.
A Hundred and One Toys in Broad Street is closing after 29 years with the owners blaming spiralling rental costs and GST for the failure of the business. Robert Edwards, managing director of Aladdin’s Cave in Guernsey, owns the business after buying it from Chris and Colin Lagadu in 2005.
He informed staff at the shop at the start of October of his intention to close. He said: ‘There is more and more competition in Jersey, and the internet is playing a large part in that. Our overheads have risen, so the business was just not sustainable. ‘It was purely a business decision. It has been a pleasure working with the employees in Jersey, who are loyal and hard-working.
‘We would like to thank the management and staff at A Hundred and One Toys for their hard work and dedication and also the Jersey public for their support and patronage over the years.’
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Such a shame! I wonder what will replace it. Another bank perhaps!?!
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internet doesnt make much competition really when you consider how much it costs to ship the damn stuff over here!
Am gutted they are closing, but as JE says, it will be another bank or up market shop that no one can afford.
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Welldone Terry Lesueur another nail in the coffin for local business, hope you know what you are doing, because for most of us it doesnt look like it.
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It’s sad to see this shop close, a sign of the times and how the public purchase their goods along with tightening of belts. I hope the staff are futunate to find alternative employment.
May be it could be sold to another toy retailer?
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I can’t believe it! Another shop lost to flaming GST. And with the Senatorial results, doesn’t look like it’ll change either!
Good luck to all the employees, and thank you to the owners for many years of fun! I used to love going there as a kid, and now I go there with my daughter.
What a shame
(
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Very sad to see this shop close. The staff there have always been helpful and I sincerely hope that they find themselves suitable employment soon. GST, high wage demands and town rentals have forced prices sky high and now many people buy online rather than be forced to pay over the top.
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yes a sad shame to see another local shop close its doors after so many years.
i hope the staff find jobs to go to.
very very sad.
i am sure there is more of this kind of thing to come.
electricity will be up again,and we are all waiting for 20 means 20 taxes.
if you are on income support you may want to stay that way as you will need double the amount to get anywhere.
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What is happening to our little island???
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I’m just waiting for a big super store for the kids(BIG & SMALL)to open, cant get anything decent over here for our children! Sad to see this toy store closing its doors, whats it going to be another furniture/clothes store, bank blimey…oh boy, this island is seriously lacking in things for our children of today!
All i can say is all the best to the staff, i hope they get employed soon! x
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I have just found this website by chance tonight while browsing the web and happened to read this article!
I have visited Jersey a few times and stayed with friends of my family on the island. On one of our visits we went to Hundred and One Toys and I was amazed at the selection of toys that the shop had!
I am from the North West of the UK and I can honestly say that out of all the toy shops i have been in over here, this one was the best ever! My parents had to drag me out of this shop! What a shame that it is closing down.
Best wishes to the people who are loosing their jobs. It is awful since they are described as “loyal and hardworking” that they sound like they make a good team and to split them up is a disaster!
I will return to Jersey one day and I hope to re visit some of the fantastic places I visited as a child, but it is a shame that I will not be able to visit the best toy shop in the UK!!
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This was my family’s business for many many years until 2001 when we sold it on.
My parents worked so hard to make this business work and as the emails above show many many Islanders have fond and happy memories of the shop. It was such a difficult shop to navigate as before it moved to Broad Street it was split into two shops opposite the market in French Lane, despite this people came back time and time again and seemed to love it for it’s quirkiness.
It is with such sadness that I see it has to close. As I am no longer on the Island it is difficult to comment on the reasons behind the closure but as a family over the many many years we worked with and served some incredible people.
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