Toy District, Los Angeles facts for kids
The Toy District is a lively area in Downtown Los Angeles, California. It covers about 12 city blocks. You can find it between Los Angeles Street, Third Street, Fifth Street, and San Pedro Street. This area is full of different cultures and languages. It has many one- and two-story buildings, often painted in bright colors. Around 500 businesses that sell toys and electronics call this place home.
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How the Toy District Started
Before the Toy District became famous for toys, it was part of an area called Skid Row. This was a less developed part of the city where some people didn't have homes.
In the early 1980s, immigrants from Taiwan and Vietnam, who were of Chinese descent, started opening the first toy stores here. At first, they only sold toys during holidays. One important family was the Woos. Charles Woo, who came from Hong Kong as a teenager, became a very successful business owner. He was studying physics at UCLA. He took a summer break to help his family start ABC Toys, a wholesale business.
By 1998, Charles Woo and his family owned 10 buildings in the Toy District. They also had a company called Mega Toys, which made $30 million in sales each year. Charles Woo is often called the "founding father" of the Toy District. He helped it grow by encouraging other Asian immigrants who bought toys from him to open their own businesses there.
How Businesses Work Here
The Toy District is mostly a place for businesses to buy toys in large amounts. They then sell these toys in stores across the country. But it's also popular with people looking for good deals. About a thousand shops, stalls, and street stands fill this busy area.
Besides toys, you can find housewares, sports gear, silk flowers, and clothes. Many of these items are imported from places like Thailand, Pakistan, and China. About 90% of the stores sell items at wholesale prices. This means they sell things cheaper when you buy a lot. Charles Woo helped his business grow by selling toys for less profit than other toy sellers.
The growth of the toy industry helped bring new life to this part of Downtown Los Angeles. By 2003, the Toy District had hundreds of businesses. They mostly sold toys and other goods made in Asia. They made over a billion dollars in sales every year. Los Angeles County became a main entry point for most toys sold in the U.S. and other countries. More than 500 toy companies are in the county, not just in the Toy District. Most of them are wholesalers who import dolls, remote-controlled cars, and other items from countries around the Pacific Rim. These companies are usually small and have few employees.
Keeping the Area Clean and Safe
Around 1998, property owners in the Toy District created a group called a "business improvement district," or BID. Their goal was to help keep the streets clean and make the area safer. This group paid for things like trash pickup and security patrols. They collected money from property owners to do this.
However, by 2009, many property owners were unhappy with the BID. The group that managed it, the Central City East Association, had less money. They tried to focus on picking up trash from people, not from businesses. This made the street trash problem worse.
The BID stopped working in 2009. Property owners voted against continuing it. On January 1, 2010, the Central City East Association stopped providing trash removal and other services. Even before then, cardboard boxes and other garbage started piling up on the streets. Workers from the BID used to remove more than five tons of garbage every day. Many landlords said they couldn't afford the BID's yearly fees. These fees could range from a few hundred to over a hundred thousand dollars.
Several things made the trash problem worse. Stores received large shipments of goods. Some business owners would leave the empty boxes and packing materials on the streets. They thought the city would pick them up. Also, many shops were small and didn't have easy access to dumpsters or large areas for trash.
Challenges in the District
The Toy District is also an area where some people without homes sleep on the sidewalks at night. By 2010, street lights in some areas were damaged. This left entire blocks in darkness.
