Geppetto’s

There are hardly no stores to find unique gifts for kids of all ages. I stopped at the mall looking for a gift for the child of a friend of mine who has lots of relatives and therefore lots of everything. While wandering I made my way into Geppettos. The store was clean, a few kids were playing with some of the toys, and a salesperson asked me what I was looking for. I told them a little bit about the boy and they guided me to a reasonably priced unique brain teaser of a game. I told them I was on my way to the party and needed a gift bag, instead they gave me my gift all wrapped up. It was great!

If I were to describe this location in one word it would be «Desolate».
I visited multiple locations in San Diego before and all have been filled with warm and welcoming staff.
Upon arriving at this location on Oct 14^th the air was filled with an impolite and unpleasant feeling. Before the staff could greet me, I did not feel welcomed.
The staff appeared to be 3 young adults who all had unpleasant looks on their faces as if they were forced to work there or all had some unfortunate situation occur not too long ago (I understand people have bad days, but this was like walking into a room of 4.0 GPA students who failed their finals).
While walking around you could hear them sassing each other about what they are doing and ignored or hid from new customers at any cost. Not only were they taking up space with a giant ladder the add stock (which should be done before they open, not at 2pm) they refused to move out of aisles that I wanted to look down.
I asked the male that was working if they had alternative sizes of an item they had in stock. He couldn’t help but to announce with anguish and frustration that the inventory system is terrible when they reorder and refused to provide a date of when they should obtain a shipment. When he told me to go to another location (which he admitted to not knowing where another one was) he seemed to cheer up with his tone and a smile as I started to leave.
There was another mother in the store at the time I was and appeared similarly uncomfortable. She tried getting her kids to leave and seemed successful after the male worker gave several rude looks at her kids.
Cute store, terrible staff.
**Update: I contacted the company on this, the owner responded that the workers experienced a «uncomfortable security incident «. I am not sure how true this is due to the recurring reviews on negativity occurring. However I updated review to 2 stars for owner reaching out to me.

This store is not like other Gephettos. Strangely enough, the staff is very rude towards children and parents. There aren’t any toys out to play with and you get scolded if you even bounce a ball in the store.

Store is nice but the employees are not helpful. They would not talk to you unless you ask for help and they talk loudly in the store about their personal daily activities. I also noticed them talking about customers about their departure. Not elegant!

Geppetto’s is a short stroll from Red Robin in the Westfield UTC mall. It’s a small store, and staff doesn’t offer to help unless you ask. Avoid it near Christmas when it gets jammed with people. But it’s relaxing on summer weekdays. It’s small enough so you won’t lose your precious kid, but don’t let her wander out the front door!
I haven’t compared their prices with target or Amazon. But my 5-​year-​old granddaughter is a girlie girl, and she likes an outing to the Westfield UTC mall with me. Many toys at Gepetto’s are arranged at her eye level, so she’s able to enjoy browsing through the toys to make her own choice.
Red Robin is a kid-​friendly place for lunch just a short stroll from Gepetto’s. There’s also a mini playground in the mall for younger kids, and several stores with children’s clothes.
Gepetto’s is kept neat and orderly, and they have a decent selection of Calico Critters of Cloverleaf Corners, if your child is into them. They are miniature animal families for ages 3 and up.
The best thing about Gepetto’s is simply its location in a cool mall!