Downtown Warwick business, The Toy Chest, scheduled to close

WARWICK — After 27 years of selling toys, 20 of which were in the Village of Warwick, a landmark Main Street store, The Toy Chest, will soon close its doors forever.

Owners Sue Loughren and her husband, Ray, are longtime residents of Warwick where they raised their three children: Ray, Julia and Eric.

Sue Loughren and her father, Richard Kuntz, started the business in 1986 on Prices Switch Road in nearby Vernon, N.J. It was Loughren’s first retail venture, which she established because her father’s health was prohibiting him from continuing his career as a precision machinist.

Loughren had been an animal science major in college and had worked as a veterinary technician for 10 years.

In 1994 she and her husband opened The Toy Chest on South Street and five years later, after purchasing the building, expanded the retail space to include both the South Street and Main Street entrances.

Moving forward
Going forward, they will concentrate on screen printing along with producing vinyl banners, window lettering and both vinyl and screen-printed lawn signs.

Sue Loughren explained that today children play differently. Their focus is on electronics and since most manufacturers have their own on line Web sites, parents find that the Internet is a fast and convenient way to shop for those items.

When the Toy Chest first opened, the only way to acquire specialty toys was to visit your local toy store where Playmobil, Brio and even Erector sets were sold exclusively.

“The Internet has changed all of that,” said Loughren. “Manufacturers have online stores and the days of exclusivity are over. Our Capezio dance wear has also become more of an online commodity.”

Closing The Toy Chest does not mean you won’t be seeing Sue and Ray Loughren around Warwick anymore. They have teamed up with two local screen printers, Jeff Padham and Joe Hallmark, to form Rooster Tees LLC, Warwick’s only on site screen printing business.

Rooster Tees specializes in imprinted apparel for organizations, businesses, and sport teams and is still operating at their 10 South Street address.

Inventory sale
The Main Street store, however, is available for rent and all current inventory is being sold at clearance prices.

Sue Loughren said that she is getting used to life without toys and life without her dad who passed away in July, but she is looking forward to the challenge of building a new business here in Warwick and hopefully seeing her toy customers at Rooster Tees.

And she added, “Thank you to all of our customers who have supported us over the years.”

By Roger Gavan