Geppetto's Toys is marking 50 years of selling hand-picked playthings across San Diego County, and owner Brian Miller is throwing a party at all nine of his stores to prove it. On Sept. 19, every brick-and-mortar location will host an anniversary celebration from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., complete with giveaways, discounts, treats and entertainment. The retailer is also rolling out a few thousand custom NeeDoh squishy toys, with all proceeds going to Rady Children's Hospital.
The toy chain traces its roots to 1976, when the original Geppetto's opened in the Bazaar del Mundo Plaza in Old Town San Diego under the Rush family, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. According to a National Park Service National Register of Historic Places continuation sheet, the motel in the Old Town area of San Diego was transformed in 1971 into a Mexican marketplace called the Bazaar del Mundo. Miller grew up living next door to the Rush family, and his own parents ran several gift stores of their own, including a toy shop inside the Hotel del Coronado. He moved back to San Diego in 1991 to take over his parents' stores, bought the Old Town Geppetto's location from the Rush family in 1992, and used that foundation to expand the business across the county.
From One Old Town Shop to Nine Storefronts
Geppetto's now operates nine locations spread across Carlsbad, Coronado, Del Mar, Del Mar Highlands, Fashion Valley, La Jolla, Seaport Village and Westfield UTC, making it one of the largest independent toy retailers in the United States, per the same account. The Old Town store remains in its original location, and the La Jolla shop on Girard Avenue, which opened in 2001, has become a longstanding fixture of the village. Miller told the Union-Tribune he hand-selects and plays with every toy that ends up on the shelves at each store, a hands-on approach he says sets Geppetto's apart from big-box competitors and online retailers.
“You can't get a memory by clicking online,” Miller said, according to the Union-Tribune's report. He added that he wants children to remember the toys they bought with their own savings, and hopes San Diegans will keep returning to Geppetto's with their children and grandchildren. Miller, a La Jolla resident in the 92037 zip code, said Geppetto's mission is to provide quality playthings to children of all ages and families.
A NeeDoh Partnership Built Around Giving Back
The anniversary's centerpiece fundraiser centers on NeeDoh, the viral sensory squeeze toy from manufacturer Schylling, which The Toy Book describes as the only custom version Schylling will produce that year, according to The Toy Book. The limited-edition toys go on sale Sept. 19 across all nine San Diego locations, with 100% of sales benefiting Rady Children's Hospital. Geppetto's has pledged a guaranteed minimum $50,000 donation to the hospital as part of the campaign, per the Union-Tribune's reporting.
The Rady partnership builds on years of similar giving: Geppetto's regularly donates toys to local preschools, schools and social service programs in addition to children's hospitals, and its fundraising history with Rady includes a 2017 “Golden Ticket” promotion that funded a trip to the New York International Toy Fair for a local pediatric patient, according to KPBS Public Media. The chain has also been a major contributor to the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival since its first year, the Union-Tribune reports.
Corporate Chops Behind a Neighborhood Shop
Miller's path back to the family business ran through corporate America. Before returning to San Diego in 1991, he earned a degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and pursued corporate retail on the East Coast, according to Seacrest Village Retirement Communities. That business background has since translated into national industry standing: Miller was inducted into the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association Hall of Fame in 2017, receiving its Lifetime Achievement Award, and he previously chaired the board of The Good Toy Group, a national association representing more than 80 independent specialty toy retailers, according to SD Metro Magazine.
Geppetto's weathered supply-chain disruptions that left many retailers reporting merchandise problems. During the global supply chain crisis of late 2021, when more than 80 cargo ships sat stalled off the Southern California coast, Geppetto's kept its shelves stocked by increasing inventory orders the previous spring, according to KPBS Public Media. The chain's Seaport Village headquarters store, completed in late 2013, stands alongside locations in tourist and retail hubs like Fashion Valley, Westfield UTC and Del Mar Highlands, per SD Metro Magazine's reporting.
Independent Retail in a Licensed-IP World
The toy industry faces competition from electronics, online shopping and big-box retailers, while independent specialty stores lean on hands-on, in-person browsing to compete. For Miller, that distinction is personal as much as strategic. “Everybody has a good memory of a toy,” he told the Union-Tribune, framing the anniversary celebrations as a chance for the community to make a few more.
