Kernohan’s Toys in downtown Santa Barbara closing

Another mom-and-pop shop is closing in downtown Santa Barbara.

Gretchen Brinser, co-owner of Kernohan’s Toys on Anapamu Street confirmed to NewsChannel 3 that the small shop will close by mid-February, at the latest.

“It’s hard to be a smaller player against Mattel,” Brinser said.

Brinser said business was “fabulous” when she and her husband first opened the toy store back in 2006 but a combination of the internet “killing brick and mortar” and many manufacturers not friendly to small businesses helped the couple reach their decision to close.

“Getting harder and harder,” Brisner said. “We don’t offer large enough sales.”

Brisner said it was also increasingly difficult to see how toy picks have gotten slimmer as the quality went down and the cost continued to rise.

The recession didn’t help matters either.

In the meantime, the unique shop, which first opened back in 1954 is holding a store-wide sale at 18 W. Anapamu St.