How Toys "R" Us Lost 735 Stores

In June 2018, every Toys "R" Us in the United States closed its doors. At its peak it had more than 1,400 stores around the world and sold one in every four toys in America. So how does the store a whole generation grew up in lose every store? It started with cribs in the corner of a used bicycle shop in Washington, D.C. It became the first "category killer", a supermarket for toys, with a giraffe for a face and a jingle every kid could sing. A U.S. president stood in one of its stores in Japan. Then Walmart and Target used toys to bring shoppers through the door, a deal with Amazon went wrong, and a 6.6-billion-dollar buyout left it paying hundreds of millions of dollars a year in interest. One bad Christmas later, it was over. This is the story of Toys "R" Us, from Charles Lazarus and a baby boom to the empty aisles of 2018, and the giraffe that came back. Real records, real photographs and archival film. Some scenes are 3D reconstructions. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Last Day 0:41 A Crib in a Bicycle Shop 1:32 The Toy That Broke 2:12 A Supermarket for Toys 3:16 Sold, and Saved 4:33 The Category Killer 6:11 A Giraffe and a Jingle 7:20 Tokyo, 1992 8:41 Kids, and Babies 9:37 The Giant Next Door 10:58 The Amazon Deal 12:22 The Ferris Wheel 13:23 Six Point Six Billion 14:25 Four Hundred Million a Year 15:57 The Long Fade 16:58 September 2017 18:01 The Worst Christmas 19:18 Closing Time 20:33 Who Got Paid 21:43 What Became of the Stores 22:50 The Ghost of a Giraffe 24:25 The Comeback 25:39 The Last Location ARCHIVAL FILM (Prelinger Archives, Internet Archive) "Homes for Veterans (Part I)" (1946) "Our Home Town: Levittown, Pa." (1954) "A Visit to Santa" (Clem Williams Films, c. 1963) PHOTOGRAPHS Via Wikimedia Commons, under Creative Commons licences (credited on screen): 3steph14 (CC BY-SA 4.0), 663highland (CC BY-SA 4.0), Aarne Pietinen Oy (CC BY 4.0), AceDiscovery (CC BY 4.0), Acroterion (CC BY-SA 4.0), Andy C (CC BY-SA 3.0), Breawycker (CC BY-SA 4.0), CBL62 (CC BY-SA 3.0), Dave Bleasdale (CC BY 2.0), Dillan Payne (CC BY-SA 4.0), DoulosBen (CC BY 4.0), DVDMovies123 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Glenn Samonte (CC BY 2.0), Graham Robson (CC BY-SA 2.0), Joris van Rooden (CC BY-SA 4.0), Keith Evans (CC BY-SA 2.0), Keizers (CC BY-SA 4.0), Larry Hachucka (CC BY-SA 4.0), Mack Male (CC BY-SA 2.0), Michael Rivera (CC BY-SA 3.0 / 4.0), Mike Kalasnik (CC BY-SA 2.0), Mike Mozart (CC BY 2.0), MissVain (CC BY 4.0), Newkemall (CC BY 2.0), Philip Halling (CC BY-SA 2.0), Phillip Pessar (CC BY 2.0), Pittigrilli (CC BY 4.0), Rhyswynne (CC BY-SA 4.0), Sam Valadi (CC BY 2.0), Seattle Municipal Archives (CC BY 2.0), Shwangtianyuan (CC BY-SA 4.0), Stephen McKay (CC BY-SA 2.0), Superbass (CC BY-SA 4.0), Susan Solie-Patterson (CC BY-SA 3.0), Talor Berthelson (CC BY 2.0), TaurusEmerald (CC BY-SA 4.0), Tedder (CC BY-SA 4.0), That Nate Guy (CC BY 4.0), Timothy Holdiness (CC BY-SA 4.0), Tomasee (CC BY 3.0), Tony Webster (CC BY 2.0), Tyler de Noche (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wittig (CC BY-SA 3.0 DE), Yosemiteyamper (CC BY-SA 4.0), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (CC BY 4.0). Other historical photographs via Wikimedia Commons (public domain / no known restrictions). Maps: original illustrations based on Natural Earth (public domain) and OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Music: original score. Music-box theme: original. #toysrus #retailhistory #documentary