“Hastings Toys and More” store returning to the Shops at Ardmore

ARDMORE, Okla. (KXII) - Hastings Entertainment stores went under in 2016, but a Texoma man is aiming to bring back the memories by opening a new store with that familiar name.

“I was really heartbroken when they went out of business”

Hastings Toys and More’s co-owner Jerry Bostic said he worked at the Ardmore Hastings Entertainment store from the time he got out of high school until 2010.

The retail chain sold books, music, movies, video games and more.

“I did every job there from cashier to every possible management position to eventually running the store for a few years,” Bostic said.

He said when he and his fiancé decided to open their own store, he had to name it after Hastings.

“There was this part of me that could not get away from calling it Hastings to pay homage to that brand and the store that I felt meant so much to me,” Bostic said.

He said when Hastings went down, it left a gap in the Ardmore community.

“Ardmore needs that entertainment store,” Bostic said. “They need that store for families to go into; that place where you can go and share a lot of great things.”

And it’s a family business.

“Roxie here is like my little assistant she does everything from receiving products, to picking out products, to unpacking them to everything,” Bostic said.

The family business will also be a community business.

Bostic said this Hastings will look a little different with clothes and books for sale, and lighter on entertainment, but he’s glad to bring the once popular store back to life.

“The outpouring of support that we’ve had online has just been crazy,” Bostic said. “This store was always really magical to me but apparently it also was for a lot of other people. I want them to feel like it’s their store too.”

Copyright 2021 KXII. All rights reserved.