Founded by Jim and Mary Thornbury in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1954, Thornbury's Toys was initially a true "mom and pop" shop. After expanding a few times they outgrew the first store located at 117 Breckinridge Lane in St. Matthews and opened a new store nearby at 4101 Shelbyville Rd. in 1960. This store became headquarters. Thornbury's, incorporated in 1965, grew year after year, peaking in the mid 1980's with stores in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, Ohio and Alabama. The formula for success: customer service, high "play-value" toys and bikes, and a strong management team combined with Uncle Jim's entrepreneurial and promotional flair, love of children, understanding of his customers, attention to detail, and loving family. Uncle Jim's motto was "the customer is always right". The company mascot, Thorny the monkey, who pedaled his bike day and night atop the St. Matthews store, also helped Thornbury's stand out.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Color "Skateboarding Thorny" and Win a Toy

Thorny hanging ten!
Skateboarding was very popular back in the mid 1970s, not unlike today. Skateboards and skateboard accessories and gear were popular selling items and Thornbury's was the leading local skateboard retailer. We believe the image above was for a coloring contest, another one of Uncle Jim's promotional ideas.

Thornbury's participated in a variety of skateboard-related promotions and activities, including competitions and demonstrations. At least once a professional skateboarder from California, who appeared frequently in popular skateboarding magazines of the day, traveled to Kentucky on behalf of Thornbury's for various store appearances and performances. Competitions held in mall parking lots, like the one shown in the video here, were common too. The video depicts those scenes well but it's not one of the Thornbury's stores or malls. If you have any Thornbury's-skateboarding-related photos, videos, or merchandise (we recall a t-shirt with a color version of the above image), contact us as we'd like to publish it here. Keep on truckin'.
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