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July 18, 2015

Closed: The Ark

Say it ain’t so: The Ark, the wildly cute toy store with the always interesting window displays at 3845 24th Street on the corner of Vicksburg is closed. A sign in the window reads simply: 
Unfortunately The Ark has to close its doors. We appreciate all the love and support you have given us throughout the years.
We had heard rumors that the store was struggling to match the prices of Amazon and the owners closed the Presidio version of the store earlier this year. Still… toys are one of those things that people like to see and touch before they buy, and the selection at The Ark was consistently good.

Then again, it might not just be the high prices, high rent or Amazon that are entirely to blame for The Ark's demise. Quite a few Yelp reviews gave The Ark exceptionally low marks for the staff including some pointed comments like “The male cashier, Sean, always provides terrible customer service, scowls at us, and is extremely unhelpful and unfriendly” and “I had this shocking discussion with a sales person who explained me that spanking is good for your child.” As of this writing, The Ark's website is also down.

Sad to see The Ark go – here’s hoping something just as useful and entertaining takes its place.
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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 20, 2015 at 12:58 PM

    Wow.. guess my store credit that I have is worthless now.. How to contact the owners about that?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 20, 2015 at 5:21 PM

    "HAS" to close its' doors?

    Or was it because you just stop being a viable business?

    ReplyDelete
  3. JBJuly 20, 2015 at 11:45 PM

    To the commenter above... just because the note says "has to close its doors" doesn't preclude it from meaning that it has to close its doors because it's not a viable business. The word "has" doesn't mean the decision to close was out of their control. Seems really unnecessary of you to post a mean-spirited (and flawed) critique of the note.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJuly 21, 2015 at 9:58 AM

    @JB: then perhaps the store owners should not be so coy and evasive when simply saying the store "has" to close.

    seems fishy to me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousAugust 3, 2015 at 5:11 PM

    The Ark toy store owners, Gerald and Audrey Johnson, filed for bankruptcy and had about 150 creditors. You can read more about it here https://business-bankruptcies.com/cases/ark-toy-company.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousAugust 4, 2015 at 1:30 PM

    didn't work out.....too bad----https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P10JvWcrgIU

    ReplyDelete
  7. LizzieOctober 23, 2015 at 11:40 AM

    This is really unfortunate; I really loved this store - they always had great recommendations for age appropriate toys and would even gift wrap. Its a shame to see this happening to a small business in a completely child packed neighborhood like Noe. Parents - get off the computer and let your kids play with toys in a real store. Remember the huge FAO that we played in as kids (know its a Barneys)!

    ReplyDelete

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