Thinker Toys — Local services in Portland

First visit to Thinker Toys and first time in a real toy store in years. We needed to get a gift for a birthday party and since we were passing the area I thought we could pop in and look around. I had my 7 year old son and 3 year old daughter with me. We had an enjoyable experience playing and looking around the entire store. Thinker Toys makes great use of their space with different areas almost like little rooms where you can look at infant/toddler in one area, family gaming has an area, dollhouse & Calico Critters area, Lego, etc. It is so well organized! I'm pretty sure there is something for everyone here. I feel the pricing is reasonable for a few reasons. 1 Pricing is comparable to Amazon on some items, probably with Target too. 2 Generally better quality brands than say Target or Walmart (the regular options around). 3 the hands on shopping experience that internet shopping doesn't give 4 they gift wrap for you (seriously, and no upcharge for it!) 5 a frequent shopper card. They write the amount you spend each time, then when the card is full you get the average price you spent as a credit to shop with (max $50). Can you imagine being rewarded with $50 for buying gifts here, amazing incentive! 6 buying local, from an actual business that is not a part of a giant chain or cooperation. Literally supporting people that live, work, and play in our area. Our actual shopping trip worked out better than expected. I had a maximum $ amount to spend, assumed we would go over if we bought here, and instead we were able to buy 3 small but fun items for less money than my planned max to spend. We will definitely be back...

Went into Thinker Toys the other day with my family who was visiting out of town. I was very excited to use my frequent shopper card, of which I had a $50 credit only to be told at checkout that the store has been sold and they are no longer honoring the frequent shopper cards. I guess years of loyalty and money spent means nothing to the new owners. They said the new owners were losing money and they gave everyone plenty of time to use them before the July 1st cutoff. Well, sorry, but I don’t look at their website or go into their store every day so I didn’t get the message. Maybe this could have been negotiated in the sale of the toy store somehow as to not punish the customers that have spent hundreds upon hundreds of dollars in their store. I have three kids that love to birthday shop there. It’s a very cool store. The lady at the cashier did give us a 20% discount, but it was probably because she felt bad because all three of my kids were standing there with their toy for purchase. What was I going to do, tell them to put the toys back? We love Thinker Toys, that’s why we have spent lots of money there. It’s an expensive toy store, but I really like to support local businesses that know how to do business and treat their customers. However, I will not be spending anymore money there unfortunately. I’m sure Thinker Toys will not go broke without my business, but I thought this was worth mentioning. I wish you the best...

Thinker Toys is a well curated, high quality toy shop in Multnomah Village. If you like shopping local, want to browse attractive, well-made toys, or need a last minute gift, this is the place for you!

The staff is helpful and the shop is well laid out. There are small token gifts (think Easter baskets and stocking stuffers) as well as oversized stuffed animals and large fire trucks. Legos, Playmobil, Melissa & Doug, Green Toys—all make an appearance here. There is an arts & crafts section (coloring books, etc), board games section (for children of all ages with a surprisingly wide selection) and a solid dress-up clothes section—not just for pretty princesses! (My son has a fire fighter coat he covets. BUT, sadly that brings me to the downside. Said coat is $50. )

This place IS on the pricey side, though they do have a broad price range—I have always been able to find something, even with a very slim budget. So if you want to shop local, have an urgent need, or simply want to see before you buy (without shopping the chaos and the risk in quality of a big box store), you will love it!

One final tip: parking in Multnomah Village takes patience and/or luck, so don't...