twiggyjali IkR

That was back when all the factories you see photos of from urban explorers, were up and running, and you didn't need to be an Elon Musk to afford a place of your own.

We had a TRU and Children's Palace only 3 blocks apart at one time; it was so awesome to run between them looking for that special treasure of a toy.

Going by the amount of customers, everyone forgot about this store ten years ago.

We still have them in my city!

Most of my childhood trips to Toys R Us were for birthdays as well. I would usually go there and spend all the birthday money that I got. A few times we went there to buy a video game that I had actually managed to save enough money to buy. Toys R Us that had the biggest selection of video games when I was a kid. I can still picture all the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis games 😔

Plastic is so darn expensive too. This will not change either. I don't blame anyone that sold in 2005.

The LBO essentially lets the buyer use what they're buying as the collateral for the loan. That shit should be illegal as all hell. Another factor with TRU, when I worked for them years ago *like 94-2000* they had a policy of trying to own the buildings their stores were in. That way, no rent, which is a huge expense for any retailer. When these sharks who bought them, one of the first things they did was sell all the property and make the stores pay rent to new landlords. Same crap that was done when 'new owners' looted Mervyns and drove them out of business.

It will be sorely missed but not the corporate side

Guru Larry is everywhere...

there's still a possibility- albeit small one, someone can buy part of the remaining assets after the debts are paid off to potentially run a smaller version, but it wouldn't be nationwide.

@bigevilworldwide1 I bet Sears may be doing that. While they are currently closed down due to the Coronavirus, they may file for bankruptcy (again) very soon. I think they might skip the liquidation process. I imagine they may just keep the doors shut and sell their merchandise to different companies.

i fully agree. every time in the last 5 years ive gone there, every single time what I want is either not in stock, not sold there, or sold out. So upsetting that stuff like Transformers gets 1 small section on one isle, with no stock, and star wars, which IS NOT SELLING AT ALL, gets like 4 to 5 full isles. Come on... Way too much baby type stuff, way to much star wars stuff. They don't care about selling quality stuff, just stuff with the highest profit margins... I understand it from a business stand point, but THIS (the closures) is what happens from it. Their own fault. Like I would always go looking for MP line transformers stuff. in 5 years I have never once seen a MP line transformers toy. same with good Optimus Prime toys, not once have a I seen a good Prime toy in over 5 years. My son loves Nexo Knights, in the last few years they stopped carrying that lego line. I see so many cool toy reviews on the internet, but never see any of those cool toys at toys r us. The toys they do carry almost feel like an insult. Over simplified, stupidly simple toys. I know for a fact there is tons and tons of awesomely cool toys out there, but what toys r us carries is nothing but what the big CORPORATE companies want them to carry. They carter more to big CORPORATE companies than their customers. I don't feel sad at all their are in this situation as they are the ones who put themselves here. Thats what happens when you prefer to make companies happy over customers.

Megumi this one near superstition mall?

@@slimebuck kids rather buy a cellphone and toys have become obsolete

I got my first bike from Walmart. TRU was a last resort for stuff we couldn't find anywhere else because of their high prices.

Charlie Fleming true

Beverly Huttinger I pushed that bike in the rain up the hill to the bus stop for that bike I learned how to ride on that same bike

Beverly, yeah--like Borders and Blockbuster.

I'm younger... I quite remember, wanna go buy although budget is tight, might not buy anymore... well, at least I remember.

there is actually a sam goody at my local mall that is still open

MSTie Fan You guys act like physical stores will be gone lol stop being a clown

If physical stores were 100% going away than company like amazon would not be investing in physical stores like whole foods

MSTie Fan lamenting the end of brick and mortar stores and being angry at Amazon is like trying to keep the horse and carriage industry alive as Ford takes over...lol...dinosaurs must...die...welcome to the new age....

cman1512 exactly. It was just too many damn malls in the US and not every area has high economic value like it once did. Cutting out the excess and shifting the focus more on urban areas.

There was no such thing as a Genesis when I was 12. There was Atari when I was 12.

But to think about it those very video games are part of the main reason why Toys R Us is closing...

Those were awesome days , when you would grab the slip and take it up front

Ha! Yes the slips. I would get so nervous walking up to the "cage", wondering if I made the right decision. I recall most games were $30-$50. That was a lot of grass cutting to save up for 1. Hence the laborious decision making process. Didn't want to spend a months worth of chore $$ on a sucky one.

naturekid 1 I remember the SNES and genesis games were a shelf of tickets and you pulled a ticket and the employee has to get it from the back but man that was a memory :(

Heath Vance exactly! Lol. Well, I was born in 1983 and remember the TMNT, Transformers, GI Joe and Game Boy hype. Always got my toys from there.

Heath Vance We 80's kids Rocked! Well goodbye Geoffrey, thank you for the wonder and amusement you gave to me as a child & my son as well.

Yeah, back in the Eighties is was "fine" to be a kid. Nowadays, it seems like young people just want to rip on each other for doing something slightly more "kid'ish" than what they are doing. Funny thing is, this current "can't wait to grow up" bunch are also some of the biggest babies when it comes to doing the not-fun adult stuff.

Heath Vance Hey 80s kid, 90s kid here. I enjoyed my childhood just as much as you enjoyed yours--nothing about your decade was particularly better or worse than the decades immediately before or after, other than your nostalgia goggles blinding you to this fact. And guess what? Future generations will have childhoods that they find just as enjoyable, whether or not these corporate retail brands continue to exist. If the only thing that made you enjoy your childhood was spending money in stores, then I feel sorry for you. My childhood was filled with reading books, make-believe, playing outside, travel, cooking, family time at home, and video games. None of which required us to spend lots of time in stores. The kids of the future will be similarly happy and able to adapt. Wake up, the world has always been filled with change, and if you can't accept it, you will be left behind.

So glad we still have these kinds of stores where I live.

Mom and Pop stores could always comeback and move to a different location. Toys R Us is dead forever.

I'm sad to see Toys R Us go as someone with lots of memories of going there as a kid, but I also feel this way as someone who worked for a small toy/hobby store when I was in university and they ended up going out of business after a Toys R Us opened across the street. Though I'm in Canada so TRU will remain open here... for now

Kanga Toro same here I'm sad to see them go

It's terrible, I love taking my son to Toys R Us and seeing his face light up 😞

At least Canada still has em

Tnb Spotter All the Toys R Us stores near my home in the US looked like warehouses. Coming from Europe, where stores had charm and style, American warehouse style stores always disgusted me. A big part of why I only asked my parents to take me 3 times total (for Pokemon games), then never went back.

facebook has been unliking pages on me recently, it's rather annoying.

Didn't expect to find you here Rich.

bruh a well known youtuber watches these videos :o

We need NFL 2K BACK!!! twitter.com/NFL_2K5

Rip in peace

Trappy Feet93 Christmas was a place to go to Toys R Us. Known for its Christmas ad "The Toys R Us Time of Year" from the 1970's, and later appeared in the movie "Cobra" with Sylvester Stallone.

Next wishlist: Sears Wishlist

We still get a mini catalogue every Christmas for our TRU that is still open!

They are dying only because the new owners are a bunch of dopes who borrowed a shit ton of money to buy it. You would think the bank that loaned them the money would have looked at their plan and said "WTF".

I recall being able to play Sonic Adventure at a ToysRUs before that game and the dreamcast were going to be released.

Mike Pavano I just turned 40, and I totally remember those days too. My daughter is 15 now. But I remember bringing her there too. Sad =(

Yeah the good ole days I remember asking the associate to get me my video games behind the counter in that big plastic display. Those were the days when you had systems like the Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Mario kart was my favorite. I remember also getting the rubber bendable wrestling toys WWF Hulk Hogan, Big John Studd, Andre The Giant. Man I miss those days.

I remember the video games were all paper slips you had to bring to the register.

I think most stores back in the day had them either behind the counter, or in locked glass displays with the cash till right on top, unless it was something like Babbage's in a mall location. I know all my local K-Mart, Walmart, and Roses stores where I bought most of my games since Toys R' Us was higher priced, and out of the way did it that way.

Where did you go for your children’s toys?

Beverly Huttinger - This is true, but they were a big pillar of the toy industry, and this is going to be a devastating loss to companies. Because Toys are still popular, maybe not to the degree they once were. But still popular, and the advantage for toy companies was the availability of having large retail space and not having to compete in stores like Walmart and Target. Toysrus catered to that market demand.

QCriderBrandon I'm going to have to hit a couple of locations and see if I can find that Lego set.

John Kelly why is that legal? That’s just killing jobs for no reason but your own greed

TheObsidianX companies don't exist to do things or employ people. They exist to make money for their owners. You can interpret this statement as a defense of private equity or as a criticism of capitalism, but as long as the profit motive drives the economy, this is just the way it is.

TheObsidianX because the ones making the rules are also making the money

Beverly Huttinger I’ve heard they actually had a good online service but I guess it wasn’t enough

kwyjibo251 Finally someone who speaks the truth.

ShadowSkillFJR We're going to dedicate this song to the people who missed Toys R Us so much. It's the Doors in a song about "The End". kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nL6Xq8Vlmp28o3U.html

William Haynes Same , I got a NES system and numerous games that way. This was pre GameStop era lol

Ours had the bank-like secure room inside the store. LOL, remember vaulting my torso up on the desk window and looking inside and thinking "damn, look at all those video games :-o ".

Lurker1979 same here i got my first game boy color at toys r us

I’ll miss you toys R us I loved dearly and I’ll never forget the fun times I had at your stores.

Nicholas Thompson Yeah, hopefully they find a job quick.

33,000 jobs. We're supposedly in this great economy and unemployment is the lowest it has been in a long, long time but 33,000 jobs gone in the blink of an eye. That is some Flint, Michigan shit right there.

Nicholas Thompson the greater at my local toys r us is named Gary and he has cerebral palsy what’s he going to do now?

MikeJ 2016 hopefully he can get on disability.

I went to know toys in 1995 and got.a ps1 and it's coming back

This is heartbreaking for me, too.

Hopefully someone will recreate Toys'R'us in VR. ;)

I agree, but what exactly could they innovate? There's only so much you can do with what's essentially a warehouse filled with toys.

I love that song, as Space Harrier is one of my favorite games of all time. :-)

16KidGuitar That's the way the worlds goes, kid. Better get used to it.

Leroset If you didn't have a bunch of greedy reckless and inconsiderate people in this world things like this could be avoided.

I got a lionel poler express train at Toys R Us.

That was my toy store. 70's child here.

Krystal Tikva I feel old even though I'm only 19. Now Toys "R" Us's time is up!

Nah, maybe specialized stores will be, but Wal-Mart is almost as much to blame as Amazon

kfcnyancat actually, Amazon is the most to blame because of how large, diverse and quickly it has grown; it has Walmart scared to the point where they are HEAVILY pushing online ordering for both general merchandise and grocery. In fact they have an internal competition going on between stores trying to get customers to download the Walmart app and order something from Walmart. com.

nWoreviewer Its because Sears still at least sells things people need like Clothes and appliances that people need toys are a entertainment like my mom always said your not going to put on a toy your going to put on clothes.

argh! most outgrow toys, and kids of this generation are getting dumbed down with things like tablets and smartphones, where they spend their time looking at colorful things on a small screen than be creative and play with their toys. most of me old toys I have passed down to me little brother, who at least still enjoys playing with them more than he is sitting and watching tv or staring at a computer screen. I'm not trying to sound mean, but eventually, toys will just be relics of the past as more and more children get their hands on technology, and I don't see parents stopping that either.

ReviewPirateUSARGH! Maybe because why Spend money on toys when you can download free apps and not pick up the mess of toys they make its all about money and even parent's prefer the idea of tablets then buying toys. Don't call Kids stupid because of tablets and Wi-Fi blame the millennials.

charger master Ah, here comes the ol' blame the millenials schtick. Let me let you in on a secret: bad parents have always existed throughout history, and if you were to give any of them the option of plopping their kids in front of a TV or a tablet, they would have taken it, regardless of the era. Blame bad parents, not a whole generation. The generation that raised the millenials (the baby boomers) did the same thing by sticking their kids in front of the TV instead of giving them real toys or letting them play outside.

Leroset no shit what am trying to say here is what the other guy said about Amazon killing toys r us Amazon did nothing to Toys r us toys r us had debt and every company eventuality goes out of business.

Why does everyone not know they price match? I've had them many, MANY times lower the prices of items I buy from them!

Jack Son because people now days don’t read.

Theres this one toy i like, at Toys-R-Us in Sea At Tull.

Linda from SEA AT TULL sooo they have sick toys

Beverly Huttinger Blame the new generatipn, they no longwr collect toys. But spend their daddys money on app games.

joey7200 . I bought Ridge Racer Type 4 at a Local Video Store. That store long gone.....

I remember a time when even _Kmarts_ were packed full of life. That sounds so strange to say in 2018.

I don't know why, but buying games like that seemed neat as a kid. The process seemed fun. As for the game section, I agree that it is quiet. I remember stores in the 80s/90s would have displays where you could play the games. Wal-Mart does have that with the Nintendo Switch....but it doesn't feel the same.

CROSFIIIIIIRRRREEEEEEEEEE

Beverly Huttinger 'Failed to innovate' ..This was the last American toy chain. I'd say it's more representative of consumers not supporting US brick & mortar in favor of money/convenience

alana No, they definitely failed to innovate. They waited too long on their online rollout, and when they finally did it, it was botched and lost them tons of money to Amazon. Not to mention they had way too many locations, never closed down under-performing stores, and never put money into rebranding their good stores. They also lagged on toy trends and had laughable management. They deserved to go under.

Michael Bruce I remember Lionel Playworld. There were a few of them here in Arizona. Thanks for watching!

superkingboo couldn’t agree more

James C. Not true. I'm 36 and love games from cleco vision to ps4. Mortal Kombat is a game of quick skill and combos. Love Me Pac man too. Reflexes.

And those huge box toy sets like the GIJjoe aircraft carrier, he-man castles, AT-AT star wars set, the huge voltron toys.

I still have that huge Voltron (the one made by Panosh Place) on one of my bookshelves. Love that thing.

why does everyone not know they price match? I've had them lower their prices many, many times for me!

Jack Son is correct, they price match. Also I've generally found their prices to be comparable to Target and only marginally higher than Walmart (a product that's $9.99 at TRU is about $9.88 at WM).

I think it's mostly the debt, I have little nephews who spend all day on their phones but they also enjoy going to the toy section of any store and begging for a toy even if they don't end up playing with it. I never saw an empty toys r us even on a normal weekday there were plenty of shoppers at least to keep it open.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Toys r Us's website ends up being bought by someone who will keep it up and running as an online toy store.

Toys r us has had a website since 1998 if i recall so idk

PsychoDon904 it brings back good memories like finding the SNES Classic edition

Isaiah Daniel I don't want to sound pessimistic, but they're far too deep in debt.

Alex Ruff aw man. Thanks for the update :(

Alex Ruff true, but there the tiniest chance that someone might buy them

Gamer A. Toys "R" Us says that they plan to keep 200 stores in the U.S. open despite the liquidation and merge them with the stronger Canadian operations.

ADP1998 could you send that article? i dont see it

He was there on a Tuesday and that day of the week is slow for shoppers. Also I assume that Retail Archaeology avoids filming kids in his videos as a courtesy.

Kathleen Kennedy: here, toys r us, take these exclusive non gender stereotyping girl swords! They are the next big thing, the children of today are crying out for anti traditional gender role toys, trust me. They're going to sell like... Boy... dresses...? Toys R Us: *goes out of business*

Kathleen Kennedy: oh Shi... - Gets fired -

SYSTEM ERROR Traditional gender norms shouldn't be enforced by law, though neither should non-traditional either. All up to the individual, ya know?

#fuckstarwars #r.i.p.toysrus