Our Story

The Beginning: With two small children in the mid-80s, Bob Hildebrandt and Patsy Perkins figured a toy store for Fairbanks was the way to go. The Toy Quest opened its doors on April 1st, 1986. No fooling! The merchandise arrived two weeks early and the shelving two weeks late so, in the Alaskan spirit, they made do. In 1994, they were able to move into our own family built building on College Road.

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The Future: In 2017, Bob and Patsy were ready to retire after 31 years. After lots of thought, Shane and Kyndall (Bob & Patsy's daughter) decided that we would purchase the store from my parents. So here we are, a few years into our journey and the start of a new era of toys in Fairbanks and a new generation of toy store kids! We have spent the first two years on a mission to put our own flair on the store. First by remodeling, then by having in-store events like craft days and Santa & reindeer during the holidays. Now we are slowly embracing the digital marketplace, originally to make it easy for loved-ones out of state shop for Fairbanks kiddos during the holidays. Now the online platform has shifted a few times. From a crudely functioning rush job during Covid, toward a more modern e-marketplace. The digital shift has been slow, but has kept moving forward.

 

The Name and the Logo: Brainstorming names and logos for the toy store in the winter of 1986 The Toy Cache was suggested.  Kyndall's Uncle Lyle drew a cache with a very non-husky pup pulling a dog sled.  We liked the dog and sled but were not that fond of the Cache name. As The Yukon Quest, the 1,000-mile dog sled race from Fairbanks, Alaska to Whitehouse, Yukon was underway it inspired our name, The Toy Quest.

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