CarToys, Inc. is a medium-sized chain of stores, founded and headquartered in Seattle. There are currently 49 stores, distributed throughout Washington, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, and Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. CarToys currently has over 1,200 employees, some of whom work in both the corporate headquarters and a distribution center. The retailer specializes in all assortment of mobile electronics products, but primarily sells automobile audio equipment

Audio equipment

A piece of audio equipment is any device designed principally to reproduce, record or process sound. This includes microphones, radio receivers, AV receivers, CD players, tape recorders, amplifiers, mixing consoles, effects units and loudspeakers....

 and wireless phone devices.

History

Car Toys was founded in 1987 by Dan Brettler, who continues as the President and CEO of CarToys. The company has a Board of Directors, though shares are not publicly traded. In 2004, Twice Magazine ranked Car Toys as the 5th largest national mobile electronic retailer.

Awards and Recognition

Recognized as a “Retailer of the Year” numerous times by Mobile Electronics Magazine, Mobile Electronics Certification Program and CES Daily, Car Toys has been included in Audio/Video International Magazine’s “Top Ten 12-Volt Retailers” for 12 years running and is the only 12-volt retailer currently listed in Twice’s “Top 100” list of top consumer electronic retailers.