I’ll always be a Toys R’ Us kid…..:*(
June 30, 2018 was a sad day. At least it was for me and I’m sure for many others. Especially those of us that grew up in the pre-internet age and pre online shopping age. I for one love online shopping, but feel bad because I’m contributing to the downfall of brick and mortar stores. The last remaining major toy store chain; and one of the largest store chains period, closed it’s doors forever on Friday. (Major nostalgia on the way just an FYI!) It’s sad that kids coming up today won’t know what it’s like to visit a toy store. Not a store with toys in it, but an actual toy store. There was nothing like going to the toy store…even if you weren’t going to get anything. Window shopping was fine with me. If I wasn’t able to get anything; which was rare; trust and believe…I would take a mental note of something that I wanted later. We would even go to the toy store just to play around. It was allowed back then and you wouldn’t be harassed. That’s what they were there for. When I was growing up in the 80’s we had…Children’s Palace (which was my personal favorite), Kay-Bee Toys and of course Toys R’ Us. Children’s Palace and Kay-Bee closed years ago. Kay-Bee was cool too, but it was always in a small corner in the mall so it would be so crowded. It was hard to enjoy it at times, nevertheless…I still wanted to go in there. I remember after Kay-Bee shut their main stores down…Easton Town Center here in Columbus, Ohio attempted at a Kay-Bee mini-store type thing. I can’t remember how long it was open, but it didn’t last long. The prices were stupid expensive. Also…it wasn’t the same as the original, so I wasn’t too upset when they closed. However, at the end of the day…we still had Toys R’ Us.
As an adult, I would still shop at Toys R’ Us. Either to buy games, buy gifts for the children in my life or just to look around. The last thing that I bought from there was a bicycle last spring. You could still get lost in that store. Even though these toys were high-tech and different from when I was growing up…it was still interesting to see what was new. And when they started releasing “retro” toys…it was OVER! However, Toys R’ Us just like many other stores that had been around for years just couldn’t compete with the times. Toys R’ Us kept their prices high; where as you can go to Wal-Mart, Target and online to Amazon to get the same toy or whatever for a cheaper price. In my opinion they were always high…that’s why we would hit up Children’s Palace and Kay-Bee Toys first. Being the last official toy store chain left standing, they had to keep their prices high. It’s a no brainer to stay in business. They were losing money and had to recoup some kind of way. I know parents who would take their kids to Toys R’ Us just to pick out something, possibly play with it…then look for it online or at another store. It was still something about going to an actual toy store. They may have stayed crowded, but only really made money during the holiday season. They may have stayed crowded, but they revenue wasn’t matching how many people would come to the store. Babies R’ Us and Kids R’ Us were the other stores under the Toys R’ Us brand and they of course closed as well. They couldn’t keep up due to their over priced items as well. A friend of mine registered at Babies R’ Us for her baby shower and listen…the prices were ridiculous. I didn’t expect them to be any other way.
Yet and still…it’s sad to see thistle closing. I wish they would’ve been able compete with other places that sell toys. It was always fun going to the toy store as a kid. It was something to look forward to. It’s unfortunate that kids going forward won’t get to experience that. Who knows…maybe another toy store will open one day? You never know! All I know is that…I’LL ALWAYS BE A TOYS R’ US KID!!! :*(
