The bankruptcy and closure of the Toys “R” Us empire, after seventy years in business, has shaken me to the core with less hyperbole than some might think. I’ve written about my love of both miniature toy cars and also scale models before, but before all of this recent news, I hadn’t given much though about the source of many such purchases. Concurrent with the passing of business founder Charles P. Lazarus at age ninety-four this past Thursday (on March 22, 2018), just days after the start of store liquidation was announced, it feels like a huge chunk of my childhood has literally just died.
Matchbox and Hot Wheels miniatures will always be fun, relatively inexpensive, and collectible, but the larger cars and model kits held for me a different, more special kind of appeal. I have spent a lot of time photographing things while laying flat on the ground, on my stomach. I think my fearlessness to do so might have stemmed from having imagined my 1:24-scale Corgi Porsche 911 was actually my car, while I eyed it from the floor. The larger scale of this toy, combined with the physical dimensions of my head and placement of my eyes made it easy to imagine, with my cheek pressed against the cool linoleum of my bedroom floor, that I was the owner of an actual Porsche.
Up to a certain age, the Toys “R” Us on Linden Road in Flint Township was the first place I would want to head after any given birthday or Christmas. Even when I became a bored, somewhat restless teenager, my friends and I had wandered through that Toys “R” Us a few times, just because it made all of us feel so good. (And doing so was free.) After snaking through the weird, labyrinth-like entrance, my friends and I would head almost immediately to the scale models and just browse… for at least twenty minutes or so. The girls in our group didn’t seem to mind too much, though usually Jen or Liv would have to prod Fred and I to leave the store, head back to Fred’s ’76 Nova coupe, and onto our next destination.
In a sense, one could say that Toys “R” Us, from my youngest, childhood buying experiences, became my first, virtual “car dealership” experience. Looking at all the sealed boxes constituted the test drive, with only so much of my savings or allowance to spend, depending on how each kit was “optioned”. I never got to share the Toys “R” Us experience with any of the young ones in the next wave of Dennises, and that grieves me. I do know, though, that many of them did get to go, themselves, so they will hopefully be able to share with the next generation about the giddy, utter joy of what it used to be like to shop for toys in an actual, brick-and-mortar store. May Mr. Lazarus’ family and loved ones be comforted in this time, and thank you, Mr. Lazarus, for being, however indirectly, such a happy part of my American childhood.
Downtown & Uptown, Chicago, Illinois.
Friday, January 29, 2010.
One more business that I thought would be around forever.
Even stranger, I last visited one of my local TRUs just a week or two before the announcement. I was actually looking for something that I should have known wasn’t to be found in a toy store….a copy of model airplanes. But that was only one reason, the other was that I was thinking of biting the bullet and buying a model raceway for my nephew.
I really try to avoid shopping online, as I want to believe shopping locally keeps my neighbors employed.
Dan, you state a great case for shopping locally, and the causal relationship between doing so and helping local businesses.
When I think about a store like Toys “R” Us, and combined with the fact that I don’t have any kids of my own, but also have nephews and nieces in other states to buy things for, and with my not-unlimited budget (with quite a few to shop for), price shopping becomes an issue for me.
An on-line retailer, like Amazon, then (sadly, often) makes the most sense. Looking at some of the pricing differences on-line between TRU and Amazon, and multiplied across the number of kids I buy for during the December holidays, that number adds up.
I’m really saddened that the TRU business model couldn’t have been tightened up where pricing wouldn’t have been such an issue.
A beautiful reflection, Joe. A sad reminder that nothing is forever, especially in business.
I think I am a little old and/or grew up in the wrong place so I never got the TRU experience as a kid – I can imagine it would have been fabulous. I sure spent a lot of time there when my own kids were young.
Even though my kids were not as into cars as I was I could always find an excuse to walk through the toy car and model kit areas.
Growing up in northern Indiana in the sixties, the closest TRU was in Chicago. It was frustrating to watch the snowy Chicago channels and the TRU commercials (usually during the local kid’s shows Garfield Goose and Bozo the Clown), knowing I’d never be able to see one in person (at least not for a while).
Then, I actually recall making the trek years later after I had my driver’s license, just to see the store. At the time, it lived up to the hype. TRU was one of the first (if not ‘the’ first) of the ‘killer category’ type store which focused on a particular kind of product and ‘killed’ it by an overwhelming saturation of just that single type of product.
One of the TRU’s primary claims to fame was that they would the first to stock a particular new, popular, ‘must-have’ toy, weeks before they would become available at any other chain department/discount stores.
Rudiger, the last reason you cited (first to stock a new, “it” toy) is kind of how I remember the allure of TRU. Suddenly, I’m thinking of all the latest Transformers all the cool kids used to have. 🙂
Thank, JP. I still “don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us kid… ♪♫..”
Perfect!
For my childhood years, it was Kmart where I would frequently purchase Hot Wheels cars.
What’s really sad about the Toys R Us situation is that so many kids will never have the opportunity to walk around a huge store devoted to all things for children.
Walmart is now the number one toy retailer. It isn’t anywhere near as exciting to walk around a Walmart as it was to walk around a Toys R Us and I can imagine this is especially true for children.
Beautifully stated, Michael. I am not dissing Walmart, and it is absolutely not beneath me to shop there, but I could understand how that place could seem overwhelming and probably a bit scary to a certain type of kid.
A store like TRU, as you stated being completely devoted to kids, was something many of us dreamed about. A trip to TRU was maybe only a rung and a half down from going to the County Fair, for me.
I despised wal-mart as a kid, the orginazition in the toy isles stunk, boxes were often dented and gouged and the overall atmosphere of the place felt filthy(it still does, every single one I’ve been to). As a kid Toys R Us would spoil you too, I’d look up and down the isles, where every next isle was packed with even more stuff I’d want (actually hardware stores do that for me as an adult lol). It was always so deflating looking for toys at K-Mart or Wal-Mart, going through the toy isle, turning the corner and then the next isle pillows or something.
Along with the closing of Toys R Us, Hobbico, the parent company of Revell/Monogram who manufactured so many of the car kits Toys R Us sold back then, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. ? No news if someone will buy the molds.
A chapter 11 is, in theory at least, a reorganization that allows the business to keep operating while the debts are sorted out and reconfigured. Of course things can always go south and turn into a chapter 7 liquidation. Maybe there is hope for Hobbico.
I totally share your sentiments, and sense of sadness Joseph. You’ve put so well into words the feeling of loss many of us are feeling. Especially given the unnecessary nature of this bankruptcy.
Here in Canada, Sears Canada recently went out of business, primarily due to mismanagement. They did not adjust with the times. The Sears ‘Wishbook’ catalogue, and its toy section, was a great source of enjoyment for many kids for the past 50 years. I used to always eagerly look forward to its arrival in the mail every November. As my mom would let me pick a gift from its pages.
Thank you for such a personal and meaningful article Joseph. Many of us feel the same.
(Great, life like pics BTW.)
It just blows me away that Sears is having so much trouble in the Internet age. It could be argued that Sears was the Internet over a century before there was an Internet. Before we browsed the Internet, we spent our time browsing the Sears catalog.
I can’t speak for Sears management in the US, but Sears Canada was extremely slow to adjusting with the times. Especially, when highly aggressive competitors like Walmart came to Canada.
AS recently as this year, if you walked into most Sears Canada stores, it was almost like entering a time machine. As the decor, and much of the experience had a mid 1970s feel. Even the smell of a typical Sears department brought me back to my childhood. Somehow, they were able to survive this long, mostly due to their past reputation, and a dedicated older clientele.
I don’t think Sears has done much better in the US. Retail of all kinds is under stress these days and Sears has proven to be far less adept at the game than most others in recent years.
Actually, to me walking into a store and feeling like it was the 1960s or 1970s would be a positive thing that would keep bringing me back in. I suppose though there aren’t enough people wanting that sort of experience at this point. Sears has been circling the drain for some time now, they’ve even sold off the Craftsman tool brand to Stanley. There’s not much doubt that Sears USA will follow the path of Sears Canada. It’s just a matter of when.
I can speak with a bit of experience- There were some really, really good people working there, especially in the Chicago satellite office, but middle/upper management in HQ was also really good at killing or executing horribly on their ideas.
For example, we were attempting to make a mobile app talk to the website shopping cart. But since the cart people were a totally different department and had no stake in actually helping us, we got ignored. We ended up reverse-engineering the shopping cart as if it was a competitor’s, not one from the same company.
Sears was already deep into its terminal decline long before internet shopping became available. Walmart was much more aggressive in developing the new technology and processes to streamline (reduce costs) for retail. And the proliferation of specialty retailing that has had a huge impact, especially in clothing.
Sears became stuck in a time warp. I had to go there recently for something, and had to traverse the women’s clothing section. The whole feel and vibe was from another century. And there wasn’t a soul actually shopping. Utterly dead. That alone is the kiss of death.
I still go to Sears every now and then since they still honor the Craftsman tool exchange, but realistically it’s once or twice a year at most. The other death note is those few times I find myself at the counter with my bag of cracked sockets and bent screwdrivers, there’s consistently been one or two other souls there before or after me doing exactly the same thing, and we both leave the store with our fresh free replacement tools, not buying a thing more.
It makes me feel bad doing that, but the problem is they’ve got such a skeleton crew manning the very large showroom, throwing them some business by buying anything of note just takes forever. Every time I’m there the checkout is empty, because that same employee is also tasked with organizing shelves across clear the store.
Am I the last guy who spent any real money at Sears? We bought a new fridge range and dishwasher there about 10 years ago. We shopped around and the Kenmore stuff was as good or better on features and price as any major brand. We have been very happy with them.
I also love my six year old Kenmore refrigerator. I mean, it’s a fridge, but it was exactly what I needed for the size of my kitchen and condo, it was affordable, it continues to work well, has nice partitions and usable spaces, and looks good.
I also have bought work clothes from the last Sears in Chicago city limits, over at the Six Corners intersection. There weren’t a whole lot of people there on a Saturday afternoon, but the store was clean and modern, things were displayed nicely, and I got great prices on the stuff I bought. I don’t know if this store is an outlier, but it was actually a good experience. I’m sad that’s doesn’t seem to be the case for many.
Sears appliances (Kenmore) have always been manufactured for Sears by one of the big manufacturers. Historically, that was Whirlpool, but in recent years it could be anyone.
Older Kenmore top-loader washers and dryers are especially good, because they’re the very rugged Whirlpool units. Folks (like me) keep them going forever in rentals.
Thank you so much, Daniel.
And Hardboiled Eggs, I completely agree with you. What you stated, that “Sears was the internet over a century before there was an internet”, is golden. In my mind, thinking about looking through the annual Sears Wish Book after Thanksgiving, gives me the same warm feeling as thinking about going to Toys “R” Us back in the ’80s.
It’s somewhat even more ironic in Canada. As before Sears and the success of their catalogue stores here, there was Eaton’s and the catalogue order service they pioneered in Canada. Eventually, Sears superseded Eaton’s as the leading catalogue retailer here. As Eaton’s corporate assets were eventually bought by Sears. Only for Sears to become obsolete themselves, once the Internet era, and stiffer retail competition took hold.
For some reason Toys R Us was always a bit off my radar. I knew about it as a kid, of course, I remember those TV commercials with their giraffe mascot, but I always got my toys somewhere else. Maybe this was because I grew up in New York, where there were a zillion other choices. I remember going to TRU maybe twice at most and neither visit was particularly memorable. Certainly not a wonder like FAO Schwartz, nor as deep a selection as a local mom-and-pop store that specialized in Matchbox cars and models.
This week was my nephew’s birthday and I figured I’d stop by TRU and get him something there, especially since there were bound to be some store closing discounts. Well, they were selling most items at 10% or 20% off, but it was chaos. Nothing had a price tag. The prices were only marked on the display hooks and since people took so many things off the hooks, every single toy had to be taken to a price checker, most of which were not working. I found the selection underwhelming. Even considering that some of the more popular toys were probably already swept off the shelves, I was mostly looking at board games and there were plenty – just not enough variety of them. The location of some toys was totally illogical. The lines were so long that I finally just dropped everything and went next door to Walmart. The selection there wasn’t any better, but I found the exact same board game that I would have settled for at TRU for $4 less – and that’s without the TRU’s 10% discount. Frankly, I can understand why they’re going out of business.
And the world turns around relentlessly.
Rudiger above said Toys R Us was a ‘killer category’ pioneer, a large fish. Minnows were doubtless swallowed in it’s path. For another perspective from the other end of the memoryscope, that company was a brash squasher of little stores in Oz. I therefore have none of the fondness, though I do retain the wonder of the sheer scale. Toys piled to the height of god. Seems they didn’t quite reach eternity.
Those photos, Joseph, are superb.
Thank you, Justy. Wow – the thought of Toys “R” Us as a kind of retail “Icarus”… that’s pretty potent imagery. And to your other point, it’s true – I’m sure that many independent toy stores went under as a result of TRU’s sheer size and scope.
Thanks, also, regarding the pictures. I remember freezing my fingers off toward the end of this shoot to where I almost couldn’t press the shutter button on my camera. The cold in Chicago during that January (2010) did not play.
Toys R Us closing isn’t real personal for me. I didn’t get to go there much as a kid. In fact, I shopped more there a few years ago than I ever had before when frequenting Babies R Us on behalf of our new daughter.
It still saddens be because I see the trends that we are heading towards a world where most shopping will be online. I don’t much like the sound of that world, because like Joseph, I’ve always enjoyed pleasure shopping. And like DanEKay, I buy very little online in order to patronize the local economy and I just prefer to put my hands on things before I buy them.
Does TRU still sell plastic models? It’s been a really long time since I bought any there.
I’m the same way, I like picking up what I’m looking at, looking it over in the flesh, giving it my own QC inspection if you will, and having the instant gratification of taking something directly home, or having the ability to instantly return or exchange. I like driving, I’m a car enthusiast, so I don’t mind that aspect at all.
Only things I order online are either A. Used/refurbished B. Things I can’t get anywhere else C. An obscenely overpriced item at a store – I understand overhead, and I don’t mind paying extra for the shopping experience, but to the point of 100+% markup vs. online is where I split.
I’m less sad about Toys R Us closing than I am knowing yet another empty storefront will be gracing communities all over the country. The one that was nearest to me was part of a large three store complex, next to a former Kids R Us, and a Babies R Us… So that’s pretty.
Having said that, it was part of my childhood, I got many of my favorite legs sets from there, a couple bikes, my Nintendo 64, and a bunch of 1:18 diecasts. One of which was a Toys R Us exclusive color combo, GT500, note the license plate
*lego sets
The empty storefronts would definitely be a concern. It seems that vacancy begets vacancy. It’s a depressing sight, to see empty storefronts and the blight that sometimes accompanies it.
On another note, from what I can see from your picture, that Shelby has some really great details on it… down to the taillamp lenses. Nice TRU Oklahoma plates, too. 🙂
For many years, mostly from the ’90s until early 2010s, my desk looked either like a county sheriff parking lot or a typical mid-west used car lot. It was typical for boys then, even if the absence of Honda Civic Si was a bit untypical.
It was taken roughly 10 years ago.
I’ve been an infrequent TRU customer and only for die cast model cars.
There have been some unique and exclusive to TRU models I’ve bought over the years. These include a set of about 12 or so very well detailed European cars by Majorette in the odd scale of 1:60. These were from about 1992. Also, maybe from about 1988 or so there was a nice set of Ertl 1/43 scale American cars (early ’50s Caddy sedan, ’40 Ford woody, etc.) in unique to TRU colors.
In later years I was interested in the (approximately 1/64, but variable) Racing Champions. Later the very high quality Green Light 1/64 models and many of the Johnny Lightning cars in the same scale were purchased.
In the last ten or so years I have not been interested in going in a TRU. When I was working on the road and had time to spare a trip to any local TRU could fill part of a day and result in a model or three. But I haven’t cared to bother for a long time now.
I’ll just park these here.
I’ve been building car kits for fifty years, and I’ve been sorting through my collection to part with some of my unbuilt kits. There are plenty more…..
No memories of TRU except what Justy said. When they came to Geelong they stamped out all the smaller stores. Now there’s ONE shop to buy car kits, in a city of a quarter-million or so.
And they wonder why the hobby’s in decline.
I have been building model cars since I was about 12. My first AMT kit was a new 1959 Pontiac which I still have, but it is stored with some other incomplete cars that now have parts missing. I was not one of those kids who blew his models up with fire crackers or cherry bombs. I have hung on to almost all of them and also have my brother’s cars that he doesn’t want . A couple of years ago I started in “restoring” cars that I built when I was a kid. What I mean by this is that I undo all the poorly thought out customizing and poor brush paint jobs and try to make them look like an original car. I have also turned a few into Gassers. Since I have almost a hundred cars to work with I have a ready supply. I also saved all the extra parts over the years which has come in handy. Right now I am working on the second AMT kit I ever built ( in 1959) which is a ’58 Buick and also a ’59 Edsel. Just for fun, I have made my workbench into a junkyard diorama . We didn’t have Toys Are Us when I was a kid and the kits cost $1.25 . I spent a lot of paper route money on the
Let me join this train – this year is my 40th building model kits, and like you, Rick, I have done a lot of ‘restorations’ too, in fact I am in the middle of an AMT/ERTL Hurst Olds 4-4-2 project. I remember exploring a Toys R Us in Manhattan back in 1993 and picking up a couple of kits there, my first AMT/ERTL kit, a 1992 shortbox F150 and a metal body Testors Lamborghini Diablo. Personally I love exploring toy shops; now I have a daughter I have a legitimate reason to be there, but toy shops always put me in a happy place. It’s sad Toys R Us met that fate; seeing and feeling the products in person, taking your pick from what is on a real shelf, is to my mind much more appealing than clicking an “add to cart” button.
My experience with Toys Are Us has been limited to buying toys for grandkids and earlier my own kids. I sure miss the old 5&10 where I used to buy kits.
I also like to build models of existing vehicles or ones in my past. That started in the 1980’s when Dad asked me to build a ( Monogram) replica of his first car, a Model A coupe. From talking to him I got the details pretty much right and now, since my folks are gone, I have it on my shelf. A few years ago I bought a metal model of a 1950 Ford pickup that I turned into a replica of my grandpa’s truck that I used to abuse as a teenager. My siblings love it from the faded black paint with primer showing through on the hood to the miss matched wheel and stains from tobacco juice on the driver’s door. I have also done some replicas when the kits are were available of cars and a truck I have owned.
A couple of years ago I tried something bigger. I built a scratch built replica in 1/25th scale of the trailer from my favorite TV show, The Rockford Files. This entailed watching a lot of episodes on DVD to get all the interior details right. I also built a model of the Firebird from a Trans Am kit.
I really enjoy working on these little projects, especially in the winter.
Joseph, you’re bringing up a lot of fun memories. Growing up in small town IN in the 50’s, most of my toy and model cars came from the local 5&10 and drug stores. Bigger toy cars and trucks, some of which I still have, came from Sears and local department stores. Promotionals came from dealers or through Ford mail order when Dad bought a new car. I’m not sure I’ve ever been in a ToysRUs.
When I used to go to London more frequently, I would rush to Harrod’s toy section (see below from last visit), and sometimes buy a few small toy cars, e.g. Solidos. And Hamley’s huge toy store. Once in Paris I bought a toy Citroen at Printemps department store that I still play with…
I’ve also visited quite a few toy museums in various cities around the world. I’ve read that the model and toy car business is slowing down due to collectors dying off. I hope the younger generations continue the hobby. There’s a kid in all of us.
Hobbies associated with electronics seem to be replacing many hobbies like collecting scale models and toy cars. I’m sad to learn this particular hobby is struggling.
I’ve recently become interested in dealer promotionals… I was at a pop-up vintage shop last fall where they had a couple of original Ford Maverick dealer promotional models from 1970. If they had cost perhaps half as much (they were asking $40) and if I hadn’t already spent my allowance, I would have taken one home.
Scale model building is dying because millennials are just not interested in it. I`m an avid model builder-mostly cars for over 50 years. I belong to a few clubs, and most of the members are age 50 plus, the ones who grew up with the hobby. At one club, a member brings his millennial aged son to the meetings.He just sits there and CONSTANTLY texts away on the smartphone. It`s sad, but once the ‘keepers of the flame’die, the hobby will die with them.
It is really sad to see these stores go away, For some pleasant memories go here:
http://www.wishbookweb.com/
I didn’t go to TRU much as a kid. The mall on our side of town had a smaller toy store (Circus World I think) that was more convienent. We did make quite a few trips a few years ago, getting gifts for my Nephews and that was fun. Usually made it the last stop after getting all the boring grownup things for everyone else.
Growing up, the many, many model car kits mostly came from one of the local dimestores or later one of the actual hobby shops in town. Those are already gone except for the one 5&10 that’s more of a boutique these days.
Joseph, as usuall, your model car shots are fun. The last two are especially nice.
I am really going to miss Toys R Us. As an ’80’s kid, the huge warehouse filled with aisles and aisles of toys stacked to the ceiling compared with a paltry corner in a Kmart or Sears. Everything imaginable, and many things I never would have imagined, were all there. It was a magical experience for a kid and is still breathtaking as an adult.
I understand that really only 16% of shopping has migrated online. What apparently killed Toys R Us was 5 billion dollars in unserviceable debt from a leveraged buyout. I do a fair amount of shopping online but it’s almost entirely eBay for something that I cannot find in person.
Re Sears, I will miss the Sears of 30 years ago, but not the Sears of 20 years ago. I got my first pair of contact lenses at Sears, we used to get tyres and batteries and appliances at Sears, but gradually, the level of service and quality declined, driving me to Sam’s for a lot of those purchases. Now the Craftsman tools are made in Taiwan. A bad experience buying a refrigerator, in which they refused to deliver it, made me swear off Sears for appliances many years ago. I see the same thing happening at Macy’s, which took over our local chain, Rich’s, many years ago and the quality of product and service has steadily declined. Rich’s/Macy’s used to be the place you went for an upscale shopping experience but there are no more floorwalkers, the merchandise is jumbled and unattractive, and poor quality. Macy’s doesn’t have 1000 thread count sheets, which are available both online and at Sam’s. It’s a shame but the reasons they are going out of business are readily apparent and only a few of the reasons for their decline are based on online shopping.