Jay Horowitz was born in Brooklyn, N Y, raised in the Hollis Hills section of Queens.

His direction was mapped out before birth as his family was in the toy industry. Ever since Jay was about 5 years old, his father “took him to work” in the family business named after his grandfather: Samuel N. Horowitz & Son, Inc. Founded in 1901, the company was a wholesale distributor of toys in the greater New York City metropolitan area. As a natural extension, his father Jack opened a chain of retail toy discount stores in the 1950s. Jay grew up working in the wholesale company and “Toy City” retail discount house located in Great Neck, N. Y. That gave Jay a toy education.

While attending New York University, in 1966, Jay had occasion to visit Bogota, Colombia. Being in an exotic environment, it was only natural to visit a toy store. To Jay’s surprise, he found none of the wonders of the toy industry of USA in Almacenes El Sport, the Colombian toy store. This registered in Jay’s mind as opportunity. Following graduation of New York University, in 1968 with a BS in International Marketing, Jay decided to look into that “opportunity”. In February of 1969, Jay established with Plastic Toy & Novelty Corp. of NYC, the first American toy company in Colombia, South America.