Toys R Us is NOT Coming Back...
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2024
- Toys R Us is NOT Coming Back...
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Toys "R" Us, once a household name in the toy retail industry, is a company with a storied history that has left an indelible mark on generations of children and parents alike. Founded in 1948 by Charles Lazarus, Toys "R" Us began as a small children's furniture store in Washington, D.C., but soon evolved into the toy giant that many remember today. Lazarus quickly recognized the potential in toys as a year-round business, and in 1957, he rebranded his business, opening the first Toys "R" Us store, which exclusively sold toys. The concept of a store solely dedicated to toys was revolutionary at the time, and it wasn’t long before Toys "R" Us became a beloved destination for children and families.
The iconic giraffe mascot, Geoffrey, became synonymous with the brand, capturing the hearts of young shoppers. The company's slogan, "I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys 'R' Us kid," perfectly encapsulated the sentiment of endless childhood wonder and excitement that the stores aimed to deliver. By the 1980s, Toys "R" Us had established itself as a dominant player in the toy industry, expanding rapidly both in the United States and internationally. At its peak, the company operated over 1,500 stores worldwide and had diversified its offerings to include baby products through its Babies "R" Us brand.
Toys "R" Us stores were more than just retail spaces; they were magical wonderlands filled with every toy imaginable, from action figures and dolls to video games and bikes. The aisles were a child's dream come true, lined with the latest and greatest in toys, games, and gadgets. The company's success was driven by its ability to provide a vast selection of products at competitive prices, and its stores became a go-to destination for birthday and holiday shopping.
However, the rise of e-commerce and changing consumer behaviors began to take a toll on Toys "R" Us in the early 21st century. The company struggled to adapt to the new retail landscape, where online shopping became increasingly popular. Despite efforts to modernize and revitalize the brand, including revamping stores and enhancing the online shopping experience, Toys "R" Us faced significant financial challenges. The company was burdened with massive debt from a leveraged buyout in 2005, which further hampered its ability to compete effectively.
In 2017, Toys "R" Us filed for bankruptcy, citing the competitive pressures from online retailers like Amazon, as well as the shift in consumer preferences towards digital entertainment and experiences over traditional toys. The following year, the company announced that it would close all of its U.S. stores, marking the end of an era. The closures were met with widespread sadness and nostalgia from consumers who had grown up with the brand.
Although Toys "R" Us closed its doors, its legacy remains strong. The brand made an attempt at a comeback in 2019, opening smaller, experiential stores and launching an online platform in partnership with Target. These efforts were part of a strategy to reimagine the toy shopping experience for a new generation. While the brand's future remains uncertain, the name Toys "R" Us continues to evoke memories of joy, excitement, and the magic of childhood for millions of people around the world.
Toys "R" Us is more than just a retailer; it is a cultural icon that represents the innocence and wonder of childhood. The company's rise and fall serve as a reminder of the ever-changing nature of the retail industry and the challenges of staying relevant in a rapidly evolving market. Yet, the enduring affection for the brand suggests that Toys "R" Us will always hold a special place in the hearts of those who grew up as "Toys 'R' Us kids."
#PixelDan
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Do you think I’m wrong?
I don't really think you are wrong, where I live in the UK, the ToysRus we had was like an aircraft hanger, now just recently a TRU has been added to the second floor of a W.H.Smith's which is a newsagents, magazine, book and stationary store, it's so weird. They had a small toy section now they've got the TRU brand name and it's just strange.
No your not wrong I agree I’m 13 and I would love to go to Toys “R” Us
toys r us is still on japan and i go every country
No, you are correct.
You ain’t wrong Pixel D!!
$42 for that Hot Wheels 4 pack of cars is absolutely WILD!
Nostalgia is basically over. Everythint people want is pre-2000s or so.
Even TV shows. I work in schools, kids wear brands form the 90's like Friends....
When kids watch things, it's K-pop, tiktoks and pre-2000s comedies.
Well airports are notoriopus for overcharging on basically anything you buy rhere via giftshops food places ect
In the 90s they had those themed boxes with 5 cars for like 5-10 bucks.
We have Toys R Us here in Canada, but they arent far off from what you showed. The prices are insane, the selection is terrible, the only upside is you can still walk through a massive toy store, where nothing entices you. Vintage toy shows are the closest you can get to that old Toys R Us feeling.
Toys R Us was still available in Spain several yours ago and I can recall the same thing. They didn´t have that many things that were different or interesting.
Indeed Toys R Us prices. Are insane plus here in Dumb dumb Quebec province the tax is high so it doesn’t help
A lot of the time Toys R Us was like that in the U.S., too, before they closed. It probably varied by location, but if there wasn't a holiday or a big promotion going on, those stores were always picked clean.
Yup, three Toys R is in the city of Edmonton, I should go check them out.
I miss walking through toysrus even if I end up just buying the figure from Amazon for half the price.
Kb needs to come back as the less expensive toy store
I always felt KB had the better inventory too--the one near where I used to live would put out stuff from the 80s. I was more saddened losing them, over Toys R Us.
I agree KB toys was fantastic. That's what we had in our mall
Toys 🧸 R Us Is Gone!
I miss Kay Bee Toys and Radio Shack 😢
I'd love that! There are some cheaper pop-up toy stores I've seen in the mall before. They had a similar feeling I got when going to KB toys. Really wish KB stayed around longer.
I feel these types of stores in airports are targeting parents who forgot to pick up something for their children while away on a business trip. Hence they will now panic buy something at an inflated price.
agreed
I'm a former toysrus employee, I worked there for over 5 years right up until they went out of business. I was in charge of the R-Zone (where the video games were sold) during the peak of the "toys to life" fad where half of my shelves we covered in skylanders, disney infinity figure, lego dimensions, amiibos, and knock-offs of those.
I HATED Funko pops, nobody wanted to buy them if there was even the tiniest dent on the box, but since we're a toy store where a bunch of kids paw at everything there was no such thing as a mint condition box, so they sat on the shelves forever...
One last anecdote was the Star Wars section, an entire aisle of the action figure section was dedicated to Star Wars when the sequel trilogy first came out, and though the Black series and some vehicles sold, NOTHING ELSE DID. All of the 5 POA kenner style figures from the sequel trilogy and spinoff movies like Rogue One peg warmed right up until the end, and when I say the end I MEAN it, in the last weeks of business when everything was on an 80-90% markdown we STILL had most of those very Star Wars figures hanging on our last few shelves.
losing the toys r us in Times Square is still a devastating loss. It’s the biggest toy store that i have witnessed when i was little and to see it gone all these years later is still so sad… I miss when this brand was a store that was big in scale with how many toys and IP’s you can explore
If it weren’t for toys r us I wouldn’t have gone to collecting as a hobby. From Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line the Jazwares Sonic toy line, Toys R Us was really something special for everyone
Toys are mainly for children to play. Even if you’re trying to make money off it, it will never have the same feeling as that.
I liked that inside the store they had little sections telling the history of toys and showing vintage StarWars figures etc.
I agree with everything you said. These days the mega corporations that bought everything just behave like viruses: running any good idea into the ground to simply get the last cent they can from the consumers, putting the least amount of effort possible to their cash-grab... Thankfully we got a lot of independent companies and creators
Ain’t that the truth for so much. It’s all about exploitation.
The store is there so that when Grandma and Grandpa get off the plane, they can get a gift for their grandchildren they are visiting. Also to pacify children when flights are delayed.
To be honest, the store you visited is at an airport. As we all know, anything at an airport is always expensive.
Hey Dan, as someone who worked at a Toys R Us in the early 90s and loved it, it is a bit heartbreaking to see what it has become. I agree with everything you said. As a father myself, I feel to worst for all the kids of this day and age at how they'll never get to experience what it was like when we were kids and the excitement we had every time we entered a big toy store. I'm 51 and still remember all the old toy stores. Toy Chest, Children's Palace, Kay-Bee, Toys R Us, etc... and that says a lot because my memory usually sucks 😂
Also, those prices are bananas and no one should take advantage of their customers like that.
Isn't that the main reason they crashed and burned in the first place? 🤔
@@BennyLlama39No, Toys ‘R Us went under due to mismanagement. It wasn’t so much to do with how the toy market has changed.
I'm glad you mentioned the old Toys r Us tax. "Toys r Us, where a kid or parent can pay more for the same toy that could be purchased elsewhere for much cheaper." That said, you are absolutely right that they had stuff that was virtually impossible to find anywhere else. Try finding the U.S.S. Flag anywhere else for example. Do I miss Toys r Us? Yes. Do I miss the Toys r Us tax? No. Do I think they're coming back to the U.S. in any meaningful way? Absolutely not, and it's criminal to call that a Toys r Us and not even put your purchase in a Toys r Us bag.
Kinda feels like all the other retailers adopted the TRU tax after they went out of business lol.
@@ioncewasmikey agreed
You can thank Mitt Romney for the death of TRU.
Bingo!
Gone?
He really is history's worst villain.
And Kaybee
Yep, he's a clown.
We still have Toys R Us here in Canada but it is pretty underwhelming. They recently started adding HMV products to them as HMV died here a while back. The actual toy sections don’t get much new stock and everything is more expensive than Walmart and GameStop. Outside of a sale we often check Toys R Us for new stock and leave disappointed and empty handed.
agreed there are a few game stops where i live and they are not bad for exclusive stuff video game characters, the newest movie toys or marvel legends ...but I personally cant stand funko pops to me they are like the "beenie babies" of the modern generation
In the UK, the bigger towns had Toys 'R' Us stores and Woolworths, which was pretty much everywhere and sold a bit of everything. We used to joke that you'd look in those stores to find things you could get much cheaper online. TBF, that's probably why they shut.
the Woolworths pick n mix section was always legendary though. Would always go there before the cinema. Good times
Oh yeah, the pick n mix was pretty much the only thing I bought there!
If they did a full fledged 80s Toys R Us recreation, with old product too, almost like a museum…it would be a tourist destination.
@@TheCassettePhase I would pay to go in there. It would just give you a feeling of joy inside being in there
@@jduttskywalker agreed!
Have sections designated entries to decades. Oh my god how I would love that. Just the big names from the decades lining the pegs. If I ever win the lottery…..you’re all invited.
The major concern with the toy industry in general is we, the 80's kids, are keeping it alive for now by buying the vintage IP's you mentioned, but aren't necessarily creating new fans with kids today. And in 20-30 years when we age out and our kids are adults, they're not going to hold the same nostalgia as we did and the toy industry is going to collapse.
I worked at TRU all the way up to the final days. They went bankrupt, closed up shop, and everyone lost their jobs...than they said nevermind... yeah...ffor me, TRU ended when all of the dedicated employees who stayed for the love of the brand and toys in general were let go.
I was working at a Canadian location while you guys were dealing with all that. We had people coming in every day asking when we would be closing or starting clearance sales.
Thank Mitt Romney and I think it was Bain Capital who bought Toys R Us, loaded them up with debt and screwed them over. That's what led to their eventual bankruptcy and closure.
Fighting for toy space at Walmart and target? Have you been there the past 6 years? 75% of the action figure aisle are empty. Not to mention our local Walmarts get stuff sooooo freaking late. Some figures NEVER even make it
Yeah, I was scratching my head at that too. My local Target has forever empty shelves & pegs. Maybe we need to give different toy brands those spaces.
The pegs might be empty, but the toy companies still have to fight for those empty pegs. The bureaucracy of the business doesn't allow the stores to simply pivot to other lines to fill those shelves.
He was saying that the space allotted to toys at those stores is shrinking, so the brands that populate those shrinking aisles have to fight for the space. I think stock levels are irrelevant to his point.
Oddly enough, I heard Walmart was making a play to have its toy dept "replace" Toys R Us when the last of them were going under in the US maybe 6 or so years ago. I do think the number of exclusives they started getting increased around that time too.
Their distribution is a mess. They either send their inventory to liquidators instead of filling the empty pegs/preorders, or they send three or four store's worth of stock to one store that sits for YEARS. Toys are below the bottom rung in terms of their importance to retailers. Basically zero management in that dept.
Years ago there was a satirical "letter to the CEO" video asking why MTV doesn't play music anymore. It came down to "would you really want to watch current music videos on TV?" I feel that way about TRU. I want a store the size of a warehouse that has 16 bit game kiosks and aisles and aisles of action figures. But that business model wouldn't possibly work today
The thing about that is, the toy industry is actually booming with cool action figures right now. Yes, I would absolutely want a toy store with modern toys. So many cool things happening from Marvel Legends, to Mythic Legions, Fresh Monkey Fiction, etc.
I think a modern toy store that wasn't afraid to take chances and have some indie company lines would be amazing, alongside the larger corporate Hasbro and Mattel stuff.
Which actually used to be what Toys R' Us was. In their heyday the stores were so large, they would take chances on random toy lines just to fill out their stores.
@@batboy9997 how would you know if no one is doing it?
@@batboy9997 that's like all the Disney execs claiming a direct adaptation of marvel comics wouldn't work or would be silly. They've never tried the thing they claim won't work.
@@tetsuoswrath Because I'm not a marketing genius. I leave that kind of thing up to professionals. So when I look at it this way, if there was a demand for a giant retail store warehouse there might be a few. A lot of money gets invested in projects like that, so it's a MAJOR calculated risk. In my town, a man started a video game store chain back in '94. It was awesome. New and used games, rentals, and lines of kiosks so you could play them. It was like a mini TRU for games! They lasted two years. The TRU I remember as a kid was an EVENT. The layout, the displays, the freakin' majesty of it all. At the end, WalMart was the number one toy retailer. Things change.
@@bradleylovej I see what you're saying, and those toy lines are cool, but isn't it adults buying those? At the end of the day, TRU was successful in its day because it was marketed toward kids. Adults can sit there on Amazon all day and order whatever they want. I'd love to see TRU come back, but it was purchased back in the day to be bankrupted on purpose. I'm not sure who'd be brave enough to put up the money to bring it (or something comparable) back.
Toys R Us is officially dead here in the UK. I still can't get over it.
Ino they jus took it away with NO heads up
Empty!
@@QuilLocke They’ve just opened a Toys R Us section in my local WH Smiths
They've opened some in WHSmiths and they are absolutely abysmal. Terrible pricing, crap selection. The Entertainer is miles better, but Smyths is still the best overall
There's one just opened in an Edinburgh shopping centre. Not seen it yet but plan on going across town to see what it's like.
I wandered into a "toys r us" at Macy's (which I thought was a fancy store but it's kinda like Ross with nicer floor tile) and it was pretty awful. It look like they just put Toys r Us signs around. They're already existing toy department. I went there because the website showed they had the Core Class Skywarp but when I went in there she says no. That's not in the Toys r Us part. It's in the regular Macy's part, and then I found a dirty toy section by the front entrance and I found Skywarp, it's kind of strange how they have two toy apartments, and the only thing different about the two is a park bench with a Jeffrey on it
I didn’t realise there weren’t any big box chains in the US. Here in the UK, Toys R Us has been replaced in the UK with Smyths Toy Superstore. It’s not massive, or not as massive as I remember TRU being in the 80s/90s. There’s usually 1 or 2 around most major towns. They originally carried Origins, and that was amazing. Now they occasionally have a few cartoon collection figures which I’m happy to see. It’s probably the best one we have here. We also have ‘The Entertainer’ which are usually in town centres and are smaller. Even they carried a little MOTU stuff but have stopped.
Anyone remember Toymaster? Did you have those in the US? They were town centre stores, I guess like you’d find in a mall in the US.
I’m happy for people who like Funko pops, but they seem to take up SO much real estate in not only toy shops, but also the other pop culture shops I like, such as Forbidden Planet. I guess it’s what people like, but I always think ‘that should be comic or toy space!’. Fine if you like them though.
I worked at toys r us Basildon 89-97, and around that time the town also had a decent Woolworths and toymaster, between the three you could anything you wanted
I don't think we ever had Toymaster here in the US. Now it's just the 2 retail giants & online retailers, aside from the occasional locally owned shop.
Pops are so weird... I guess there are still people who collect them, but seems like it's only the rare, limited edition stuff that's actually sought after. Shelves upon shelves of them seem to just seem to sit & collect dust at every Walmart, Target & even the smaller independent shops.
Ah man, Woolies! We got all sorts from there, MOTU, Power Rangers, Captain Planet, Action Man, Mighty Max, Tamogotchi…
@@colinmorton8074 I remember getting the big Mighty Max mountain playset (I forget the actual name) at a Toys R Us for my birthday when I was a little kid. I went with my dad & picked it out. Still have it! 😄 Good memories.
The Entertainer is absolutely terrible. The owners are evangelistic catholics and refuse to stock certain brands and lines based on their belief that they "glorify satan". They also dont open on Sundays for similar reasons (They were happy recently franchising to Tesco though... so they have found a way around their moral high ground, whilst Tesco's toy selection has now become equally as anemic).
The uk really needs more options.
When I was a kid in the 80s and 90s, I remember getting toys from Children's Palace & Toys R Us, as well as Target & K-Mart, and KB Toys in the mall!
I was just at this TRU in Dallas yesterday and it's the exact same store as the FAO Schwartz in the Indianapolis airport. Only difference was the signage.
Feels like someone just bought the rights to the names and plastered them in their airport kiosks.
If they don't have the toys R. Us exclusive toys it's not a toys R. Us.
I have always said Toys R Us will not come back until I can see that there's a Toys R Us in every single major city in the United States standing by itself on its own without relying on another store like Macy's.
Nothing beat Toys R Us like the 80's and early 90's. Great memories x
You mentioned the "Toys R Us Tax." I'm old enough to remember in the days before Walmart's dominance that Toys R Us prices for most toys were CHEAPER than everyone else.
I've been to the Toys R Us at the American Dream Mall and it was an entirety different experience. It is so much more than the Airport version you've been to.
First off, it's more than double the size. It's located on 2 floors of the mall with an elevator, stairs, or slide to access either floor.
Second, the selection is so much more. There was a large variety of toys that I don't remember seeing Funko Pops. I'm a huge Transformers fan, and I found online exclusives there.
Third, pricing was not too different from retail. There wasn't much of a markup. I did a bit of research before I purchased anything and found that the prices may differ from a dollar, give or take.
Lastly, although there is a large variety, selections vary. I mentioned a lot of Transformers, but there wasn't that much MOTU there. Both Lego and Playmobile were present, but I don't think I saw any bikes, trains, or video games.
Regardless, it's worth a trip if you're in the area. There is also a dedicated Lego Store in the same Mall.
Yeah, it's great! The times I'd been there, I thought the MotU selection was decent-- a whole shelf of it, as opposed to just the few pegs that Target has.
But the whole store has that feeling that Dan was describing-- walking in and seeing toys you've never seen before. All sorts of cool stuff there!
I gotta admit, the Macy’s Toys R Us’ just doesn’t have that 2000’s punk rock, summer day, gloriously gleeful feel to it. Old TRU was like a Baby Bottle Pop for the soul; it was a freeing, magical, exclusive experience that wasn’t exactly the best for the teeth. (or wallet) But at Macy’s it’s very constrained and formal. I mean, every time I go to the mall, I either go to the Build a Bear, or the Toys R Us…
I haven’t been back to Toys R Us there in years.
It’s feels like a pretty depressing time to be a toy collector, especially one that wants to hunt for them in the wild rather than click a hyperlink.
I miss the toys r us at timesquare. It was such a memorable part of my childhood. 😔
I understand how you feel, now in our Toy R Us stores in Canada we got a pop-up nostalgic HMV section inside, where they brought back selling collectible music CDs and Vinyl records and they have removed the Video games section. Miss the good old days.
What is happening with Toys R Us is the same thing that happened with FAO Schwartz. It had a "comeback" that everyone was buzzing about, until they realized it was a retail shelf with an FAO sign in Dillons supermarkets and Toys R Us stores that had stuffed animals on them. A pale tribute to what the store once represented...
There are specialty stores and there are discount stores.
The story I heard is that discount stores pushed down toy prices even at a loss to attract family customers. I don't know if that was true but specialty stores have higher overhead so they're more expensive.
I was an Electronics Manager at Toys R Us for years and worked both their main store and their Mall Pop Up store before they closed and I think you’re on the money that they aren’t coming back.
The Toys R Us rep is really a Macy’s employee that works the TRU department. Also back when I worked at Toys R Us for years I used to hear people always taking about the “TRU Tax” which I always found silly because our registers literally let us price match with anybody. We price matched with the website, GameStop, Walmart, Amazon, Target, Best Buy, etc. we also price matched with Kmart until they were closing and they purposely marked down prices of items they didn’t even have in stock like 3DS Systems for $20 as a final way to stick it to competitors that would price match with them. The first Karen or two that pulled that might have had it honored, afterwards a quick message was sent out to all stores to not price match with Kmart any further.
We went to the New Toys R Us at Macys and also grabbed a Funko Pop, and couple TRU exclusive Geoffrey items like a bag, plush, and horns because I used to have to wear the mascot costume at my old store so it was kinda nostalgic for me. The rest of the department felt more like a glorified CVS or Walgreens Toy Aisle instead of being a legit competitor to GameStop, Walmart, or Target as far as their toy selection goes.
It was kinda bittersweet for me checking out that Toys R Us. As a child I attended their original Pokémon Leagues and as an adult I hosted their 20th Anniversary Pokémon Events because I worked there at that time and it felt like things went full circle. I’m also grateful for the opportunity to be a manager there however the pay up until they closed and how they screwed us employees there at the end left a somewhat sour taste with them. The pay was $7.40 an hour while they bragged about being more than the $7.25 minimum wage. As a manager I was getting $8 an hour and we got a .10 cent raise yearly so I was literally making only alittle over $8 an hour and joked with the Store Manager that if we stuck it out for the next decade we might see a whole dollar! This was while the Store Manager and Assistant Managers made several fold over the rest of us managers and employees. We also were getting $7-$8 an hr while Walmart, Goodwill, and McDonalds all in our parking lot paid more fresh out the gate than we did. Also despite what people think we stayed busy and made sales and yes, kids still buy toys. We also had the gamers like GameStop, the scalpers for Pokémon cards, Funko Pops, Legos, Hotwheels, TRU Exclusives, etc. we had people buying toys for their kids for birthdays, holidays, etc. and a bunch of adult collectors looking for Power Rangers Legacy line, Star Wars Black Series, and lots of Superhero collectors. Toys would go viral on TH-cam or TikTok and people would be all over them. However Toys R Us never liked putting money back into their stores for upkeep like new registers, new game cases, working ceiling fans, working fan inside the Geoffrey costume as it would constantly shut off. The top positions in the company got paid well, really well, while they cut corners on paying the rest of us and investing into the store or staying current. Once the company changed hands to a guy that collected a ton of bailout money from major toy companies, liquidated stores, and filed for bankruptcy while pocketing as much as he could that was the nail in the coffin. Because of this despite all my nostalgia for the store and fond memories I’m kinda glad its attempt at revival isn’t going well. It was a great experience as a kid and as an adult up until it closed but they learned nothing and their poor choices lead them to digging their own grave.
Airport and Drugstores are double to triple prices for a reason. 😅 this don't count. Now Toys R Us can come back but they need to rethink the entire business. It needs to be a membership based mini theme park get away with food, pool, families can bring kids, play, then leave with some toys they bought. Members only in the play, pool, areas. Everyone has access to come buy things. Even from the food places inside. You see it needs to adjust it's brand to become a destination for fun and get away. Not just toy sales
I used to work at Toys R Us at the Haunted one in Sunnyvale CA. Back in 2000-2005 was my very first job that's were I got my experience ✌️😎
Did you ever have any experiences with "Johnny"?
@@Spongemonkey26 around 2002 I thought I felt a cold wind blow behind me there's no one walked behind me or in front of me while I was working cleaning the isle and there's no fan or air duct that's blowing cold air nothing that's how I know that Toy RUs that I worked in Sunnyvale is Haunted
2 things:
• The old Toys R Us was great because the TOYS were great. Without new exciting things as you mentioned, it’s just a larger footprint with more of the same crap.
• I always thought if they were going to bring the brand back, instead of doing a bunch of little crappy locations, do two or three huge locations, make them like the old place, have some exclusive stuff, and make them a destination. I’ll bet most of those little pop ups aren’t even covering rent for the space.
Toys R us is trying so many backwards ways to come back, they just need to OPEN NORMAL STORES, not a bunch. They just need to slowly trickle out stores until they’re on top again. The airport and macys crap will only get them so far.
Macys using Toys R Us for their toy section is smart. They’re not known for toys so they highlight it with a known brand. Why do Tombstone Pizzas highlight Kraft Cheese or Taco Bell only sells pepsi drinks. It’s called co-branding and it’s as old as business itself. I guarantee Macys didn’t care about adult collectors when they licensed the TRU logo, because not everything is about nostalgia & adult collectors’ very small market share in overall toy sales.
Agree. There is no Toys R Us. Ever since the store has gone away, we are stuck buying collection online and hunting them at Target, Walmart, Costco, Meijer, etc. where there is limited supply, not shelved, or not picked up by the retail for sale.
And as a result you can only find them in the after market at ridiculous prices (Amazon, Ebay). Thus you either pay the price or have an incomplete collection. Collection overall is not fun and the quality is sometimes not good, especially from Hasbro Plus.
Hasbro is like McDonald's... Over inflated prices.
There’s a full size Toy R Us in the Mall of America in Minneapolis/Bloomfield, MN.
Is it any good?
@@ioncewasmikeyIt wasn’t too bad. It definitely felt different from the TRU I knew as a kid. It’s a good size store, but the aisles and sections were smaller, no video games, etc. It kinda felt more like a mall K-B Toys, rather than a TRU.
@@jtbrunick Better than nothing!
When I was a kid in the 80's, I used to go to Lionel's Play World. I remember getting a real good report card and my mom and dad gave me 60 bucks and took me there and I bought nothing but He-Man stuff. Good times!!
In Australia, TRU was the monster that came in 1995, and devoured all the independent stores. They kept their prices really low just long enough to put all the competitors out of business...
Now the monster is gone, the independents are making a comeback.
The TRU name still exists here as an online store, but it's just a different skin on the Hobby-co site.
The old brick and mortars the monster left behind are now called Toymate. It was funny when they opened because they had all the old TRU stock on the shelves, like a time capsule.
Sadly kids prefer watching kids playing with toys at this platform, instead of playing with toys themselves…
I never understand when folks say "Toys 'R' Us was expensive." Maybe compared to Walmart, but KB was always roughly 25% more than TRU (before it basically became a 3 for $10 closeout store), because of the high mall rents. Yes, TRU had a "bump up store" model, where they charged more in affluent areas, but that didn't really apply to most markets. I feel like a lot of folks' parents were telling them it was expensive, and the kids just internalized that. Because I was not only a customer, but also a 10-year employee.
I'll never get over it, them closing hit me hard, the worst casualty of growing up....RIP I'm sorry we grew up, Geoffrey.
You’re not wrong, Dan! It’s like when FAO Schwartz closed its doors in NYC. Sure, they reopened in a new location, but it was never the same. It’s sad that my kid will never quite have the same experiences that we all had growing up. The only thing we as parents can really do is share our joy and our love of the things that helped define us in the hopes that they too can see what made them so special in the first place, and perhaps they can carry the torch for future generations to try and bring back or recapture what once was lost.
~Damon
Honestly this is what we deserve, thankfully Moose toys puts out new things and always innovate
In Europe and Britain we have Smyth's Toys. It's practically rebranded ToysRus but with better prices and sales.
I live near Mall of America and there’s a larger sized “Toys R Us” there. Recently visited and was quickly disappointed. It was about 25% Funko Pops, the rest was board games, Lego and some scattered figures for popular IPs.
An economist’s point of view: The golden era of children’s toys 70-90s is basically over. A combination of changing tastes, video games, budgets, and kids being more active in sports and extracurricular activities has eliminated the drive for toys. Throughout the 70-90s cartoons were giant toy commercials, and that died a slow death in the 00s.
I myself am about to unload my entire toy collection, even my tastes have changed. I don’t want the clutter, risk (fire flood hurricane theft), and I enjoy other hobbies more (hiking travel and fly fishing).
I was lucky enough to be able to take my kids into a Toys R Us up north here several years ago, just to give them the experience of seeing so many toys in one place. I didn't think the selection was all that great and I thought the prices were pretty high, but they liked it, so at least they have a bit of a memory of what it is like to walk through one. But even though they still exist and are close by, we rarely go to it, because it doesn't really have what any of us are looking for these days. I guess sometimes you park the nostalgia, enjoy the memories for what they were, and move on, as much as that can suck. Thankfully there is still magic to be found in so many of the stores that you feature on your Toy Hunt channel, and with the indie online retailers. Thanks for the video - it was a great discussion to have and you could tell in came from your heart.
I say this on every TRU video. In order to make an actual comeback, there are certain things they need to do: They need to have a smaller footprint. No more giant warehouses. They need to be the same size as CVS.
They need to be a destination. store. Have random signings by voice actors. Have characters show up for pictures
They need to let kids (and adults) plat with some of the toys. Test some of the stuff out.
Lastly, if they're going to carry video games, make it a small section. Focus more on what made them great (toys) and less on what hurt the industry (electronics).
If any of these toys r us stores want to make a lasting impression, they need to make these items affordable, not overpriced.
There's a Toys R Us opened here in Edinburgh, Scotland just recently. Plan on checking it out one day when I have time. We have Smyths Toys Superstore across the UK and Ireland which have a good selection of toys, bikes, video games and infant goods.
Isn't part of it just that kids today don't really like the same kind of toys we liked then? They might like to bang together action figures until they're about 5 or 6 but that's it. They don't want playsets and vehicles like we did. They seem content with guys whose legs don't even move. Other than that, the only young people I see interested in action figures are teens and young adults getting figures from their favorite video games or anime. I do see a lot of Funko Pops, but its still for display, not play. And I think Pops will run their course eventually. Its all IP, like you said. I think it comes down to SO MUCH media thrown at them. They don't want to sit down in the dirt with He-Man and Skeletor and make up stories like I and my brother did.
There’s also a gigantic Toys R Us in Ocean Plaza in Hong Kong! They have all sorts of Korean and Japanese Toys that you can’t possibly find in the US, in addition to the stuff that we can find here!
I still have toys that I bought there!
Hey Dan, you're right. Especially about them relying on nostalgic customers who only buy something to say they were able to buy from a toys r us again.
Here in Europe, Smyths Toys, an Irish chain, took over the old Toys R Us stores, so we still have a big box toystore chain, which is a good thing. However, they are not what Toys R Us was like in the 1980s (and wasn't under the Toys R Us banner either). A large chunk of the store is taken up by baby supplies like prams, etc... and another large chunk is outdoor stuff like garden trampolines. It still has a much better selection than most other brick and mortar toystores and you usually have a decent selection of MotU available as well as Ninja Turtles, Transformers, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, some Marvel stuff (mostly very kid aimed), etc... But the discovery factor simply isn't there, because the big toy companies are less willing to take chances and fewer kids actually play with toys.
In the US, it seems as if these new Toy R Us stores are trying to capitalise on the nostalgia for the name. Something similar happened here in Germany, when my favourite sock and stocking brand and the only brand which made knee socks to which I wasn't allergic went bankrupt. A few years later, they allegedly came back. But the socks and stocking were nothing like before, but cheap scratchy crap capitalising on a popular brandname.
As for who that airport Toys R Us is for, like most airport stores it's for busy travellers who need a gift for their kids at home. Just as the pricy perfume and fashion stores are for busy travellers looking for a gift for a wife or girlfriend (and it's telling that there aren't a lot of airport shops offering pricy gifts for husbands and boyfriends). My Dad travelled a lot and he always brought me and my Mom gifts. Knowing my Dad and his dislike of shopping, they likely came from airport shops like this one. Coincidentally, some of the best gifts my Dad ever brought back were from the US. I later learned that my great-aunt in Florida had taken him shopping and that she picked all the great gifts.
Funko Pops are the new Beanie Babies.
Yup , sadly I own both ....
That's sad it's a husk of it's former self
Collecting classic toys helps me feel young and stay positive. I miss Toys R Us I work there from 2016-2018 I can't believe its been 6 years ago. Canada and Japan are so lucky they still have it. Geoffrey the Giraffe still appears in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and at Comic Con Conventions.
Toys R Us is still in Canada but not like they were back in the day. Now they’re selling vinyl records, books, t-shirts etc and the prices are ridiculous.
I used to work at a Toys R Us right at the end when it was announced seemingly out of nowhere that they were shutting down and it hit everyone pretty hard. Seeing as how current generations of kids don't play with toys in the same way that those who grew up during the 80's did, mainly because there are no after-school cartoons or Saturday morning cartoons to entice toy sales, I don't see toy stores coming back as they once were.
You are not wrong Dan... To feel disappointed. It's understandable to see what has happened to it. We have 13 stores in Singapore and it's expanding every 2-4 years. So it's ironic the franchise is doing better in other countries when it should be thriving in its own actual country where it was created in the 1st place.
Last week, I was in MN state at "Mall of America" and there was an individual TRU store!!! No idea why. Then I walk over to Macy, there is another TRU inside of Macy. That's TWO TRU in "Mall of America". If anyone want to go to TRU today, go to Mall of America in Minnesota. AND yes, there was Classified Series, Origins, Black Series 6" and Transformers figures.
As an AFOL (adult fan of LEGO), my local HobbyTown USA, along with retailers Walmart, Target, Meijer, Fleet Farm, as well as some of the previous year's LEGO sets at Big Lots or the HomeGoods store inside of my local T.J. Maxx store, as well as a local aftermarket LEGO shop have all made up for the loss of retailers like Kmart, ShopKo and Toys "R" Us, as I used to find them quite beneficial to my LEGO hobby...I only hope that someday, my local shopping mall will get an official LEGO retail store, so I don't have to keep using LEGO's online Shop at Home service to find exclusive LEGO sets not found anywhere else...
Toysrus meant a lot to me as a lil kid,looking through the shelves every summer or Friday after school,getting a lot of lego sets,tmnt toys and Ben 10 2016 action figures,seeing this kinda saddens me knowing the current predicament of the world,the biggest downside is the price inflation on toys that people would want,and it’s worse when the majority of the stuff in there is just like the dad said”the same stuff you can find in target when we’re on our way home” plus stuff that was from last year,not everyone will immediately want that,I believe that it can come back someday,the name isn’t dead but I hope they can learn how to fix these problems to truly bring it back for everyone who grew up with it ❤
That store is for people who just realized they need a present for a kid they're about to see, and they're willing to pay the additional cost so they don’t need to stop at Walmart on the way.
The TRU in the Mall of America does feel like a real toy store, and it does have quite a bit of stuff that you will not find at Target and Walmart, but they are a long, long way off from being competitive with either chain.
It’s the same at the mall in NJ. All the action figures are stuff that was on clearance at a ridiculously high mark up price. It was sad. I went in with this sense of happiness but it was immediately dissipated. Toy hunting isn’t what it used be. 98% of my toy purchases are done online.
You’re definitely not wrong. I honestly think in order for ToysRUs to make a strong comeback…to be the toy store we all cherished and loved, they’d need a investor who would be willing to start from the ground up. Someone could comprehend that it would take a few years to get back the greatness it once was. Better yet, someone who’s willing to buy the ToySRUs name and still do everything I just suggested.
I miss Toys R Us so much. I would take the whole family every Saturday after breakfast. My local TRU wasn’t more expensive than Target. I found them competitively priced. I also had a TRU credit card that would give me additional discounts. I’ve been to the one near in Jersey a few times and while it’s nice to walk through a space full of toys it just doesn’t feel like toys r us used to. The prices will not go down unless they open stores at scale like they had previously and I don’t see that happening. Kids don’t love toys like our generation did.
A brand name is not the same as an experience. A sprawling big box full of toys is not the same as a logged slice of a space.
We were there in July! When I saw it, I immediately took my kids in there to pick out a small toy just so I could get there photo at the checkout!
Hi Mr. Pixel, we still have Toys r us here in Germany. Now it is called SmithToys... but all the rest is totally the same. Just changed the name (and owner perhaps). But for me it is still Toys r us.
I 100% agree with you, I actually work at My local Toys R us store from 2003 to 2008 and I missed it so much.😢😢😢😢
Those prices are NUTS. Assuming its just because it's in an airport? Hopefully TRU comes to more malls with better pricing.
I went to the full Toys R Us store at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, NJ last year and was pleasantly surprised! Yes, while most of the products were run-of-the-mill everyday items, seeing it all laid out and on full display made me happy inside! Typical slightly-over-market pricing, but still cool nonetheless. I too walked out with a Geoffrey the Giraffe item, though mine was a plushy. I also kept the Toys R Us branded shopping bag. If you can make it out there, I recommend it.
Its like the Cheesecake Factory turning into a small menu food cart. Independent toy/collectable stores are more fun to go to nowadays.
I’m not overly nostalgic about Toys R Us. We never had one, anywhere close, in southeast Alabama, until I was probably in my later teens. If there is any nostalgia for me, it’s probably seeing Toys on Double Dare and daydreaming about winning the shopping spree.
Even in Canada where I live, the prices at Toys R Us are obscenely high I wonder who their target audience is.
I live in the Dallas area and could easily go to the airport to shop at the Toys R Us shop but I don’t want to ruin my last memory of being at an actual TRU store before Wall Street destroyed it with its infinite greed.
I was so happy when I heard that TRU was coming back. Then I saw it in Dillard's with a space slightly bigger than 1 bedroom apartment selling mostly Disney junks and a few set of Lego. All my hope was gone.
Toys R Us means so much more than the letters and Geoffrey. These stores are like putting the Golden Arches on a hot dog stand and saying it’s a McDonalds.
Every time I watch a nostalgia based video I’m always overcome with emotions of “Nothing is like it was back then and it never will be.” And then it hits that I’ll never feel the way I did as a kid. It’s a really sad thought.
We have a Toys R Us at the Mall of America here in MN. It is definitely pricier than Target or Walmart, but not as pricey as that one seems to be. That must be airport Toys R Us prices. Everything is crazy priced at airports.
I collect for nostalgia, but I also collect to collect and for my head cannon.
It's for parents that forgot to buy toys for their kids when they're on their way home from vacation that they took without their kids
Nostalgia is a way to sell more things that's why companies resale ancient toy lines with new package (bigger package) and remembering toys lines
Thank you for the trip down memory lane! There will never be a toys r us as we know it. Sad, but nice to see the small pop-up stores to bring back those great memories!
I think the best thing we can do as fathers is pass on our memories and show our kids the toys we have.
I lived near an original store and took my son regularly just to walk around and look at stuff. Now it’s just a spirit Halloween store during the fall
Kids these days see handheld devices (smartphones and tablets) as their true toys while the actual real deals are close to extinction like dinosaurs. 😞
I remember visiting the biggest branch in Times Square, New York and it was absolute paradise to so many of us, especially with huge selection of products we were after. Transforming that huge place into GAP clothing store hit me real hard unfortunately. Main first visit of mine was in the early 90's (to many, possible golden age) in Singapore and boy, did I used to enjoy visiting that place and getting a lot of good stuff.
Meanwhile, we still do have Toys 'R' Us here in Korea, with the possible large branch located at Jamsil's Lotte Department Store.
Having Entertainment Earth, Big Bad Toy Store and Hasbro Pulse online stores. Almost makes it impossible to bring back any of these stores back.
That store is just for an emergency purchase and for someone that doesn’t have a clue what is the retail price of toys