Sure, these smaller toy stores have action figures, transformers, and legos, but if you want something like the GI Joe Aircraft Carrier, you pretty much needed to go to Toys-R-Us. K&K Toys or KB Toys in the mall wasn't carrying the Death Star (at least mine wasn't), you had to go to Toys-R-Us for that sort of thing. These days, you want that crazy awesome Masterpiece Transformers Soundwave? Got to go to Toys-R-Us. That's the sort of thing that I'm going to miss. My city lost it's Toys R Us in the early 2000s and it definitely impacted the selection of toys. I started making the drive to one about an hour a away to do Christmas and Birthday shopping. There's something to be said for that big box space dedicated exclusively to toys, especially if you're looking for something different than the plain vanilla you can get at Walmart, Target, etc.

They also had a credit card program and sales days (similar to Barnes & Noble) where you could actually get good deals, or at least buy things for the same price as Amazon, etc.

TRU was my wife's first major job in the '70s. Back then it was called Lash Tamaron. Charles Lazarus was owner. When they went public they were giving out stock options to employees in management. That stock split numerous times which gave us a nice nest egg when we got married. Sad to see an American icon store fade away.

I think its lazy to blame the parents for toys falling out of fashion, it is just the changing times. My kids don't play much with action figures (particularly at $7-$10 each) because they really don't need to. When I was a kid in the late 70's I played the shit out of my Star Wars action figures because it was a way for me to re-live the movies (along with the trading cards). Now we can watch it anytime we want they do not need to do that, trading card sales are down, book novelizations of movies have largely gone away, etc.

It comes down to what it means to be a kid and that is always changing. In this case it is what you experienced yourself as a kid that is defining your feelings for what it is "like to be a kid." My kids don't play much with physical toys and use crazy nerf guns outside. I used Lazer Tag and played with a roomful of toys. My dad used cap guns and had three-four small toys for amusement. My grandfather used his fingers for pistols and had one metal car to play with (and I remember him always complaining about how we didn't need so many toys).

Sure my kids have a laptop and phone but they are also in middle school robotics class and computer coding class, its a different era and I am fine with it. When I was in middle school we had next to no activities except for athletics and music. Now they have a 3D printer and are laying out CAD designs for a possible room remodel project. They are living their childhood, not mine.

I 100% agree with this. We can't hold onto the status quo, things change and we need to change with it. Desperately trying to keep things the same is not healthy for anyone.

*Some* jobs are in jeopardy of being replaced my automation, but that doesn't mean those jobs go away. As a society we will always have jobs for people, they just may be different in the future.

Ultra smart people will continue to build the core systems and the interfaces that enable other people to do their jobs, for example, enabling non technical workers to program those machines to do their work. That won't require a highly skilled systems programmer in the future, that will be a job that anyone with a high school education can do.

As in my opinion above, things change. It doesn't mean something is wrong or that something is going badly, it just means that things are changing.

I'm more excited than ever for my kids and their future. Humans are less than 100 years away from some game changing technologies that will really alter the landscape of society.

Toyland, toy land
Li-ittle girl and boy land
While you dwell within it
You are ever happy there

Childhood's joy land
Mi-istic merry toy land
Once you pass its borders
You can ne'er return again

I remember when the first Toys R Us opened around here in the early 70s.

It was bigger, but even then it's selection of toys was pretty weak compared to Toy City or even JCPenneys. And then they put those quality toy retailers out of business. No love lost here. Good riddance!

I've been to the FAO Schwartz that was in NYC a number of times over the years before it closed. Now that was an impressive toy store.

Some Toy manufacturer has floated the plan of just buying all of the Canadian Stores. Since the Canadian TRU is still open but operating after filing for bankruptcy.

good to know because the one in vegas in the caesar's palace mall was a travisty

I took my family and my mom there a couple of years ago before it closed, really glad we did.

When my mom passed earlier this year we found the Zoltar fortune from that trip to FAO in with her keepsakes.

36,000 jobs in the toilet.

Thanks Bain.

Modders be snatching up clearance action figures and toys to glue on their playfields.

Sad days.

I have a 9 year old and a 6 year old. looking at our shopping habits, it's clear to me why Toys R Us was a place we never visited:
1) Big ticket stores like Target cover not only toys, but other stuff we need
2) We have Frys Electronics here, which also has a nice toy section
3) As Prime members, Amazon is where we go for every present, etc. Just saves so much time
4) Gaming - It's all content you download now. Zero need to buy a video game on a shelf
5) Video streaming - we used to go rent movies, buy movies. Nope. Now it's all way easier

Yep things evolve, markets change. Toy stores, like hobby shops are things i grew up loving, but they are all gone. But now I have VR, powerful tablets, grocery delivery. It's just always changing. Self driving electric cars - not far away.

But back to pinball - I really love the physical part of it, now melded with the digital. And I like that it's ONE game. So many choices on a PC, Xbox, it's like overload. I love the singular focus and physical part pinball has.

TRU was great when I was a kid. No filler, if you were going to TRU it was all about toys.

I knew it was in trouble a year or so ago when I took my daughter. It felt very dated and run down, and also sparse in the way of customers. All the people that worked there were teenage "angsty" types with bieber styled hair and a "you're wasting my time" attitude. I walked out feeling old and disonnected. That's not the kind of impression you want customers to have when one of your competitive advantages should be shopping experience.

This is how I want to remember them...1989 Baby!

They should just sell that, move into a low rent building and keep the company going. I guess that's what they would do if they were like us. Sell the luxury items when you're down to keep things afloat.

Nat King Cole and Doris Day signing this are my favorites. But I can listen to almost any version. Good way to start the day with a cup of coffee and Doris Day. Thanks!

Que sera sera...

Frisco ToysR’Us for the win!

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I wonder if that costume will be available at the liquidation sale. That would be da' bomb!

Here is my Toys R Us shirt! Embroidered Logo on front and sleeve.
Possibly headed to Ebay....

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was everything on clearence yet? headed to the bay this weekend and want to take my 3 year old son while we are there so he can see what a toys r us looked like before they were extinct. Just going to let him play with everything and tell him to try and remember it as best as he can, and of course let him pick out a few things.

Exactly, there not needed any more because the kids don't care about "toys" so much anymore. We had a local Mom and Pop toy store close up about two years ago that had been in the business for 60 years. They told me the world has moved away from the entire toy world and it's all electronic stuff now. Sad to see them go as I spent many years and allowances there, at least I came away with the roof sign and a lot of great memories of shopping there for years for my HO trains and slot car stuff.

John

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Going down the isles as a kid in the 70s/80s, Toys R Us was pure joy in my childhood. Back when we had "Stretch Armstrong, "Big Track" and "Dark Tower" for toys was the shit. The video game isle was something to behold with the sheer amount of selection. I especially loved to drool over the race tracks and trains. They were up on the wall already put together in the isle. That Christmas commercial jingle would send me in a frenzy.

We would walk from Suitland to Marlow Heights, Md through the woods to get to our Toys R Us. Ugh...I'm old.

nothing on sale at our toys r us yet... i looked online and it said only 1 in colorado is scheduled to close and I happened to be close to it yesterday in Denver and checked it out and nothing was on sale there either.

not sure what the deal is

Nothing really on sale at ours yet either as of yesterday.

I went to the store last night and asked. Things start to get discounted tomorrow.

my buddy hit one up in south dakota and its almost empty now i guess

Sorry, I guess you're losing your job.

You know I was kidding , right?

Yes, of course...

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Oh Shit

Take pictures to show him one day.

Oh wow, I did never expect to read "Big Track" ever again. I like to think it thought me how to program Great toy, wish I had kept it, but that was about 40 years ago or something...

Kay-Bee toys is now making a comeback!

http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/20/news/companies/kb-toys-toys-r-us/index.html

Stock up on clearance Last Jedi Rose Tico action figures in 50 years they'll be super rare.

I took my 4-year-old on Sunday. This is a pretty good Toys R Us and the place was still fully stocked and staffed. There were a decent amount of people there. No deals were advertised but we bought some Lego sets and it turns out they were at a 15% discount using a Toys R Us credit card. My buddy said a similar thing happened to him paying without a Toys R Us card so I wonder if they just aren't advertising some of the discounts. Took lots of video and some photos. The boy flipped at the Lego selection and I got that on video.

That brings back memories from when I took my kids there for the first time.

Then my son & I would go to look at the latest Lego and K'nex offerings.

Way back when Nintendo first came out, the cartridges were just on the rack at toys r us.

My little brother had a friend who would go to to the store and get us six of our requests. I think he charged us 8 dollars each which was like half price. I'm not proud.

Still it was good times. I liked toys r us but thier toys were always picked over.

I think wal mart is a superior buying experience today. I know I know, but I have a pretty good time at my wal mart. It's all in how you look at it.

One of the games I play at wal mart is to slowly walk towards the register to check out and I watch the people who are in such a hurry, they cut in front of the handicapped guy in the walker, me.

I sometimes tell an employee I'm doing it who is there, so they can watch it happen with me.
Wal mart games.

Going to Toys-R-Us was always a treat for me. The closest one to where I grew up at was 2 hours away. So I'd be lucky if we stopped at one once every few years or so.

I don't want to hate, but Toys R Us was not that great... I said this on FB- Menards was more festive. Gander Mountain had life size dioramas with running water and stuff. Much cooler. KayBee at least looked like a toy store. Sorry people lost their jobs.

I don't get the fuss about amazon. It takes 2 minutes and I can find anything they have way cheaper. I know people hate ebay but you can find new in the package stuff at 1/2 what amazon has it for.

We all play and buy Pinball’s which are big expensive toys, are you saying we are all just overgrown kids

Charles Lazarus, founder of TRU died today. Not a good week/month for the tru family.

I stopped at T-r-U and there were no sales going on. Parking lot looked like there was, but inside looked like every day.

BUT.... from what I pieced together from a conversation that I overheard from a manager, sounds like they were supposed to set up the signage last night (they didn't, so that must mean he's a poor manager), but were glad they didn't anyway because corporate was closed due to snow, and couldn't flip the switch to start the sale.

So tomorrow?

wow, no wonder they went out of business lol