Near-death experience planted seeds for downtown Everett toy store

EVERETT — What’s important?

Tom Harrison asked the question in the days and years following Sept. 11, 2001.

The former New York City attorney was at Ground Zero when terrorists flew two passenger jets into the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Harrison’s answer, his love for his son and a love for toys, led him to found MyMyToyStore, an online toy store.

“I had a near-death experience that day and when I came face to face with my mortality and then didn’t die, I looked at my life and made the changes I thought were going to make me happy.” Harrison said.

But those changes came slowly.

He survived the wall of dust and ashes and then spent another 10 years running from its phantom.

“Anytime something was going wrong, I stopped and I ran,” Harrison said. “It took me a good eight to 10 years to stop running.”

He switched law firms. He moved west to Colorado in 2011.

By 2018, he had quit his job as a Denver-based contract attorney and launched MyMyToyStore.com, an e-commerce website that sells pop culture toys.

“It’s a Black-owned company that celebrates the imagination, wonder and fun in pop culture,” Harrison said.

“It was founded from a childhood spent reading comic books, playing with Star Wars and G.I. Joe with Kung Fu grip action figures, watching every super- and sci-fi hero on the big and small screen, and filling the space in between with MTV,” Harrison said.

He named the business after his son, Michael, who is fluent in Mandarin.

“Mei Mei means Michael,” said Harrison, who changed the spelling to MyMy.

Two years ago, Harrison met an Everett woman on a Zoom call.

In August 2021, he moved to Snohomish County — “for love,” he said.

He began searching for a space that could serve as a fulfillment center for his online business.

Downtown Everett spoke to him.

Funko, Everett Comics, Black Lab Gallery Bar and other businesses pointed to a flourishing arts and business community.

“It has a strong pop culture scene layed on top of a social and arts scene,” Harrison said.

Instead of warehouse space, he found retail space on Hewitt Avenue, next to Artisan Books & Coffee.

“I decided to do a very risky thing and open the storefront I always wanted to,” Harrison said. “What I like about Everett is that my business neighbors are not waiting for Everett to pop, we are making it pop.”

It’s MyMy Toy Store!

In November 2021, Harrison opened MyMyToyStore at 1806 Hewitt Ave.

The shelves are stocked with Funko Pops, Super Heroes, Marvel Legend and DC Comics action figures, Nerf balls and retro games. Check out the 1967 version of Battleship.

The walls are covered in local art. The paintings of Everett artist Jamie Curtismith ripple with color.

“The store is a reflection of the inside of my mind,” Harrison said, laughing.

He turned a back wall and a closet into paint-splashed Nerf ranges.

“You can come here and shoot Nerf blasters,” he said.

Each week, the store hosts an art class taught by local graffiti artists.

His company logo, the image of a blue fist, inside an orange and yellow starburst, pays homage to the symbol for Black power.

“I wanted to subtly reference my heritage as an African-American,” Harrison said.

Pop culture has a dark side, he said.

”Its history includes open expressions of racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia. It openly traded in stereotypes,” Harrison said. “Fortunately, the old currency is being retired and replaced with a currency based on authentic storytelling and expression.”

The transformation has been slow but deliberate thanks to a new generation of “bold creatives that pushed themselves in front of the camera, grabbed microphones, and put imagination to paper so that long-suppressed voices and experiences could be seen and heard,” Harrison said.

“While a piece of plastic, die-cast, or vinyl will not change the world, these mini pieces of art can at least reflect and celebrate the best our planet’s cultures have to offer,” he said.

On a recent morning, Cody Malik, who works at Angel of the Winds Arena, popped into the store on to see what was new on the shelves.

“I was really excited to see a new store in town competing with Funko and also different toys and things,” said Malik, who discovered Harrison’s store 10 months ago.

Everett has been a welcoming place, Harrison said.

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin attended the store’s ribbon cutting ceremony last year. Business and retail neighbors and the Everett Downtown Association have been “super supportive,” he said.

Still, being a store owner can be a lonely pursuit, Harrison said.

“I question myself every day,” he said. “Why am I doing this? How am I going to make this work?”

When he needs answers, he turns to his neighbors.

“Because of the business community here, I can ask those questions and get feedback,” Harrison said. “They’re really good at problem solving, and that’s really helpful on a daily basis.”

Janice Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @JanicePods.