Please be advised:
For the duration of our business operation (through the end of April 2015) Temple of Toys will be switching our schedule to "by appointment only". The Comic Book Lounge and Gallery will continue to operate at their regular schedule, unless otherwise noted.
We will be using the time during the month of April to gradually move out stock and fixtures, though we will continue to hold items where a deposit has been paid. If you would like to visit us, we urge you to please contact us at templeoftoys@gmail.com or message us through our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TempleOfToys to schedule a date and time to ensure that we are there to assist you. The Comic Book Lounge and Gallery staff will be unable to assist our customers during this time, as they will be occupied with transitional responsibilities from their own business.
Thanks for your understanding!
Important Notice Re:The Future of Temple Of Toys/Back Space Toronto
To all our customers/ event participants:
As many of you already know, Temple of Toys/Backspace will be closing this spring. Our lease officially expires at the end of April, and we have chosen not to renew, so April will be our final month at 587A College.
Some frequently asked questions regarding our closure:
1). Why are you closing?
There are a number of factors leading to this decision, most significant has been the increase of construction in the area, not to mention long-term work being done on the Gardiner which is scheduled to go on until 2016. Since this work has begun (which has coincided with frequent line closures on the TTC Subway and Streetcar lines), we have seem a dramatic drop in traffic to the area (since travelling to the downtown core has become quite a hassle for our customers). While our customers have shown a lot of enthusiasm for the items we bring in, we are finding more and more that people are asking to arrange pick-up elsewhere (at shows, at a mutually agreed upon location, etc). There seems little reason to continue paying rent when a large portion of our sales are taking place outside of our retail location.
2). Will you be re-opening elsewhere?
Temple of Toys will be continuing to participate at select shows/ conventions as exhibitors, however, we have no plans to re-open a retail business. We will, however, be bringing back our Toronto Toy Fair events starting this fall, which are large-scale, family friendly collector shows with a huge selection of dealers, high end prize raffles and other fan-favourite activities/features. Our next show, InTOYstellar will be run this coming Oct.25 (Like our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TOToyFair or check out our website http://www.totoyfair.blogspot.com for details on both past and upcoming shows).
3) Is there going to be a "Store Closing" Sale?
Not in the traditional sense, no. While we will be bringing in a large selection of clearance items for the months of March and April (which will be located in the Back Space section), we will not be offering a store-wide discount. A number of our items are still high demand/high value, so we see no reason to discount these when they can be offered at future shows. As always, we are happy to work out deals with customers looking to purchase a quantity of regular priced items, but our room to negotiate varies depending on the specific items.
4) Will you be selling fixtures?
For the most part, no, however, there are a few items that we will be offering (spin rack, several tube televisions used for our "Retro Replay Friday" events, ranging from 12"-27"; some including stands). Once de-constructed, our grid-wall can easily be stored and we'll have plenty of use for those panels (and hooks) at shows. Same with our folding tables and chairs; we'll be re-purposing those.
5) Since you're still doing shows, are you still looking to buy/ sell toys?
At this time, no. Our plan is to sell-through our existing inventory. We do have a number of items on order through our distributor which are, for the most part, ear-marked for a handful of customers.
6) What about Back Space?
Back Space as a business will cease to exist once the lease is up. It was a location-specific venture intended to service the overlapping customer bases of Temple of Toys and Comic Book Lounge and Gallery. A number of these events (Comic Book Marathon, Retro Replay, Geek Swap, Geek Boutique, Industry Night) will live on through other venues (some as components of our own upcoming stand-alone events). Additionally, plans are in motion for an educational programming company, details of which will be posted on the Back Space Facebook page/ web site once things have been solidified.
7) Will there still be events/ rental opportunities of the Back Space during Feb/ March?
We are still moving forward with our popular Custom Pop Workshop on Feb. 28 (https://www.facebook.com/events/687803134652260). Additionally, we will be offering opportunities for those wishing to set up and sell in the Back Space Clearance area (a nearly month long Geek Swap in both March and April) on weekends (PM us or email us at backspacetoronto@gmail.com for details) and there may be a final Retro Replay night. Booking opportunities for outside/ private events will depend on the specifics, but we'll be very reserved (since the main focus will be the inventory clearance efforts).
8) What about the Comic Book Lounge?
The Comic Book Lounge and Gallery will be continuing in the form of a subscription/ delivery service. Visit their page https://www.facebook.com/comicbooklounge or web site http://comicbooklounge.com/ for additional information.
9) Will the store hours remain the same until closing?
It will be business as usual in Feb and March, however, we strongly urge all of our customers to check-in (call/message/email) before making a special trip to the store (particularly in our final month, April). While our hours will remain pretty standard (Closed Mon, Tue-Sat:12-7 pm, Sun: 12 - 6 pm), there may be days that will be dedicated to moving items in and out of the store. We are more than happy to schedule a visit (if your own time to come in is limited) and we will post as early as possible on days when we won't be able to make it in. Most weekends will be consistent (with the exception of Mar.20-22, when we'll be participating as an exhibitor alongside the Comic Book Lounge and Gallery at Toronto Comic Con and therefore, closed). The final week of April will mainly be focused on clearing out leftover stock and fixtures.
At this time, we would like to thank everyone for their patronage this past year. We have truly appreciated your business and visits and are thrilled that so many of you have grown into more than customers, but friends! We look forward to seeing you in the future! Wishing you all the best and please do look out for additional information in the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
Sari and Shane Kirshenblatt
Owners/Operators
Back Space Toronto/Temple of Toys
For the duration of our business operation (through the end of April 2015) Temple of Toys will be switching our schedule to "by appointment only". The Comic Book Lounge and Gallery will continue to operate at their regular schedule, unless otherwise noted.
We will be using the time during the month of April to gradually move out stock and fixtures, though we will continue to hold items where a deposit has been paid. If you would like to visit us, we urge you to please contact us at templeoftoys@gmail.com or message us through our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TempleOfToys to schedule a date and time to ensure that we are there to assist you. The Comic Book Lounge and Gallery staff will be unable to assist our customers during this time, as they will be occupied with transitional responsibilities from their own business.
Thanks for your understanding!
Important Notice Re:The Future of Temple Of Toys/Back Space Toronto
To all our customers/ event participants:
As many of you already know, Temple of Toys/Backspace will be closing this spring. Our lease officially expires at the end of April, and we have chosen not to renew, so April will be our final month at 587A College.
Some frequently asked questions regarding our closure:
1). Why are you closing?
There are a number of factors leading to this decision, most significant has been the increase of construction in the area, not to mention long-term work being done on the Gardiner which is scheduled to go on until 2016. Since this work has begun (which has coincided with frequent line closures on the TTC Subway and Streetcar lines), we have seem a dramatic drop in traffic to the area (since travelling to the downtown core has become quite a hassle for our customers). While our customers have shown a lot of enthusiasm for the items we bring in, we are finding more and more that people are asking to arrange pick-up elsewhere (at shows, at a mutually agreed upon location, etc). There seems little reason to continue paying rent when a large portion of our sales are taking place outside of our retail location.
2). Will you be re-opening elsewhere?
Temple of Toys will be continuing to participate at select shows/ conventions as exhibitors, however, we have no plans to re-open a retail business. We will, however, be bringing back our Toronto Toy Fair events starting this fall, which are large-scale, family friendly collector shows with a huge selection of dealers, high end prize raffles and other fan-favourite activities/features. Our next show, InTOYstellar will be run this coming Oct.25 (Like our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TOToyFair or check out our website http://www.totoyfair.blogspot.com for details on both past and upcoming shows).
3) Is there going to be a "Store Closing" Sale?
Not in the traditional sense, no. While we will be bringing in a large selection of clearance items for the months of March and April (which will be located in the Back Space section), we will not be offering a store-wide discount. A number of our items are still high demand/high value, so we see no reason to discount these when they can be offered at future shows. As always, we are happy to work out deals with customers looking to purchase a quantity of regular priced items, but our room to negotiate varies depending on the specific items.
4) Will you be selling fixtures?
For the most part, no, however, there are a few items that we will be offering (spin rack, several tube televisions used for our "Retro Replay Friday" events, ranging from 12"-27"; some including stands). Once de-constructed, our grid-wall can easily be stored and we'll have plenty of use for those panels (and hooks) at shows. Same with our folding tables and chairs; we'll be re-purposing those.
5) Since you're still doing shows, are you still looking to buy/ sell toys?
At this time, no. Our plan is to sell-through our existing inventory. We do have a number of items on order through our distributor which are, for the most part, ear-marked for a handful of customers.
6) What about Back Space?
Back Space as a business will cease to exist once the lease is up. It was a location-specific venture intended to service the overlapping customer bases of Temple of Toys and Comic Book Lounge and Gallery. A number of these events (Comic Book Marathon, Retro Replay, Geek Swap, Geek Boutique, Industry Night) will live on through other venues (some as components of our own upcoming stand-alone events). Additionally, plans are in motion for an educational programming company, details of which will be posted on the Back Space Facebook page/ web site once things have been solidified.
7) Will there still be events/ rental opportunities of the Back Space during Feb/ March?
We are still moving forward with our popular Custom Pop Workshop on Feb. 28 (https://www.facebook.com/events/687803134652260). Additionally, we will be offering opportunities for those wishing to set up and sell in the Back Space Clearance area (a nearly month long Geek Swap in both March and April) on weekends (PM us or email us at backspacetoronto@gmail.com for details) and there may be a final Retro Replay night. Booking opportunities for outside/ private events will depend on the specifics, but we'll be very reserved (since the main focus will be the inventory clearance efforts).
8) What about the Comic Book Lounge?
The Comic Book Lounge and Gallery will be continuing in the form of a subscription/ delivery service. Visit their page https://www.facebook.com/comicbooklounge or web site http://comicbooklounge.com/ for additional information.
9) Will the store hours remain the same until closing?
It will be business as usual in Feb and March, however, we strongly urge all of our customers to check-in (call/message/email) before making a special trip to the store (particularly in our final month, April). While our hours will remain pretty standard (Closed Mon, Tue-Sat:12-7 pm, Sun: 12 - 6 pm), there may be days that will be dedicated to moving items in and out of the store. We are more than happy to schedule a visit (if your own time to come in is limited) and we will post as early as possible on days when we won't be able to make it in. Most weekends will be consistent (with the exception of Mar.20-22, when we'll be participating as an exhibitor alongside the Comic Book Lounge and Gallery at Toronto Comic Con and therefore, closed). The final week of April will mainly be focused on clearing out leftover stock and fixtures.
At this time, we would like to thank everyone for their patronage this past year. We have truly appreciated your business and visits and are thrilled that so many of you have grown into more than customers, but friends! We look forward to seeing you in the future! Wishing you all the best and please do look out for additional information in the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
Sari and Shane Kirshenblatt
Owners/Operators
Back Space Toronto/Temple of Toys