Toys "R" Us

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Toys "R" Us
Type Private
Founded 1948 (Washington, D.C., USA)
Headquarters Flag of the United States Wayne, New Jersey, USA
Key people Gerald L. Storch Chairman and CEO, Toys R Us Inc.
Industry Retail
Products Toys
Revenue $11.1 billion USD
Employees 200,000
Slogan Time For Childhood.
Website www.toysrusinc.com

Toys "R" Us (currently typeset as Toys Я Us in the logo) is a toy store chain based in the United States, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, South Africa, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. The company currently operates 587 stores in the United States and 600 stores in 29 other countries, with some of them under franchises or licenses. The flagship store in New York City's Times Square is the largest toy store in the United States,[citation needed] featuring a colorful ferris wheel. It is also the second largest toy store chain in the United States (Wal-Mart being the biggest).

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Charles Lazarus initially started Toys "R" Us (LTD) in Washington, DC during the post-war baby boom era in 1948 as a baby furniture retailer known as "Childrens Supermart" and later "Children's Bargain Town USA". Its first location was at 2461 18th St, NW, where the nightclub, Madam's Organ Blues Bar is currently located. Lazarus began receiving requests from customers for baby toys. The original Toys "R" Us store design in the 1970s and 1980s consisted of vertical rainbow stripes and a brown roof with a front entrance and side exit. Some brown roof locations still exist, although some were painted different colors or renovated in recent years. Toys "R" Us is also notable for making its mark in popular culture for being mentioned, parodied, or appearing in movies and TV shows, such as Back to the Future, The Blues Brothers, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Mystery Science Theater 3000 and The Flintstones.

The Bluesmobile races through the Dixie Square Mall, emerging from the Toys "R" Us store on the left side, from The Blues Brothers.
The Bluesmobile races through the Dixie Square Mall, emerging from the Toys "R" Us store on the left side, from The Blues Brothers.
A replica of the Chrysler Building, made entirely of Lego bricks, on display at the Times Square location of Toys "R" Us in New York City.
A replica of the Chrysler Building, made entirely of Lego bricks, on display at the Times Square location of Toys "R" Us in New York City.

After several major missteps in the marketplace, mainly precipitated by the removal of one of the Board of Directors, Toys "R" Us experienced difficulty.[citation needed] In an effort to shore up their enterprise, the Board of Directors installed John Eyler, formerly of FAO Schwarz. Eyler launched an unsuccessful, and very expensive plan to remodel and re-launch the chain. Blaming market pressures (primarily competition from Wal-Mart and Target), Toys "R" Us considered splitting its toys and baby businesses. On July 21, 2005, a consortium of Bain Capital Partners LLC, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), and Vornado Realty Trust completed the $6.6 billion acquisition of the toy giant. Public stock closed for the last time at $26.74, just pennies from the 52-week high, but far short of its all time high of almost $45 in fourth-quarter 1993, and its five-year high of $31 in 2Q 2001. Toys "R" Us is now a privately owned entity.

An exterior of a typical second generation Toys "R" Us store in Rome, Georgia, United States.
An exterior of a typical second generation Toys "R" Us store in Rome, Georgia, United States.

In early 2006, Toys "R" Us won a major battle against Amazon.com after years of bitter battles over their original 10 year contract made at the height of the dotcom boom at the turn of the century. The battle focused on exclusivity rights as viewed from both company's perspectives. The judge in the matter had this to say about Amazon's top brass testimony:

In her opinion, McVeigh took a rather dim view of the trial testimony of some Amazon executives, including that of the company’s billionaire founder Jeff Bezos, saying she had "no doubt his knowledge and understanding (of the Toys "R" Us agreement) went much deeper than revealed." When pushed on the witness stand, "certain information 'just came back to him'" she said in the ruling, while another of Bezos’ explanations was referred to as "rather childlike." [1]

Toys "R" Us, after winning the right to end its contract with Amazon.com, forged a partnership with GSI Commerce, a company specializing in running e-commerce sites.[2] By the middle of 2006, Amazon's stock had taken serious 15% losses, one consideration being the $50 million per year payment lost from Toys "R" Us. Amazon announced the loss of the case late in the quarter to its stock owners.[3][4]

On January 9, 2006, Toys "R" Us announced that 87 stores in the United States would close that year, most closing within the spring. 12 more stores were to be converted to the "Babies "R" Us" format. Approximately 3,000 jobs were eliminated as a result of the closures. [5]

Toys "R" Us store at United Square Mall, Singapore
Toys "R" Us store at United Square Mall, Singapore

Toys "R" Us, Inc. also owns other chains:

  • Kids "R" Us - A store chain no longer operating independently, Kids "R" Us deals in children's clothing. Kids "R" Us stores now are co-branded with some Toys "R" Us stores, located inside most Toys "R" Us locations. Kids "R" Us is also the brand name label of kids' clothing found at the Geoffrey Stores.
  • Babies "R" Us - Baby superstore
  • Bikes "R" Us - Bike store inside Toys "R" Us (UK only)
  • Geoffrey's Toys "R" Us/Geoffrey - Retailtainment stores named for Toys "R" Us' mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe, offering toys, juvenile merchandise, and children's apparel all in one location. Other features include a "Studio G" activity center. Mostly found in the American Midwest, but are also found in Texas, Mississippi, and North Carolina. The first store under the "Geoffrey" banner opened in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, but eventually closed because of poor sales figures. Two other remaining Geoffrey's Toys "R" Us stores in Wisconsin still exist in nearby markets, such as the Green Bay, Wisconsin and Appleton, Wisconsin markets. Other locations include Louisville, Kentucky, San Antonio and Austin, Texas.
  • Toys "R" Us Toy Box (introduced in 2003) - This version of Toys "R" Us is found in Albertsons, Giant, Jewel-Osco supermarkets, and stores in Hong Kong and Singapore.
  • Toys "R" Us KidsWorld - A toy superstore format introduced in 1996. Stores were built in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Fairfax, Virginia (which was remodelled in 2006 into a standard Toys "R" Us).
  • Toys "R" Us/Kids "R" Us - co-branded stores found in markets not served by the Geoffrey Stores. A current example of these stores can be found in markets such as the Horseheads, New York market or the York, Pennsylvania markets.
  • Toys "R" Us Express - mini store version of Toys "R" Us, found inside Asian stores. (Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan (Republic of China), and other)
  • Imaginarium - An independent chain of kids toy stores with a focus on learning toys, located mostly in malls was bought by Toys "R" Us in 1999. Its mascots were Cosmo (a purple puppy) and Professor Fun. When most of the Toys "R" Us stores were remodeled, their layouts were redesigned to included an Imaginarium department.
  • Toys "R" Us Philippines- Toys "R" Us in the Philippines, found in the Robinsons Galleria mall.

This is logo #1, the classic logo for Toys 'R' Us from 1977-2000.

This is logo #2 (2000-2007). This logo has brighter colors than its predecessor logo.

This is logo #3, the present Toys 'R' Us logo since 2007.

The yellow reverse "R" in quotation marks, which is similar to the character "ya" (Я) in the Cyrillic alphabet, imitates a small child's backward writing of "R", which is short for "are". The "R" is the most distinctive part of the retailer's colorful kid-friendly logo. The current, modernized Toys "R" Us logo was introduced in 1977 as logo #1, a blue star was added to the logo in late-1998/early-1999 during the Toys "R" Us "Concept 2000" era and is dubbed logo #2, the "Concept 2000 Star" logo. Logo #2 was seen earlier in the 2000s decade on the Nickelodeon game show, Double Dare 2000; and on new "Concept 2000" Toys "R" Us stores or older stores that were converted to "Concept 2000" stores. The "R Us" name was derived as a pun on the founder's first name, Lazarus. It has been imitated by many other businesses. The logo was once again changed on September 24, 2007 as logo #3 with alternating sized characters and a star in the middle of the reversed R. The letter R was changed from yellow to blue. However, in the United Kingdom Logo #2 is still continually used today.

Geoffrey in his current design.
Geoffrey in his current design.

In the 1960s, an anthropomorphic cartoon giraffe character was introduced as Toys "R" Us' mascot. His name, Geoffrey the Giraffe, followed in the 1970s, after a "Name the Mascot"–type contest. In 1973, Geoffrey was given a family with the addition of his wife Gigi. However, over time and with different marketing campaigns, it has been unclear as to whether Gigi is Geoffrey's wife or sister. Also in 1973, Geoffrey's daughter, Baby Gee, was introduced. In 1979, his son Junior (a.k.a. Geoffrey Junior) was added. Geoffrey was then re-introduced in 2001, after being given a full makeover. He then appeared not as a cartoon character, but rather as a real-life giraffe who talks; an animatronic version of Geoffrey the Giraffe (created by Stan Winston Studios) was voiced by Jim Hanks in commercials for radio and television. He now appears, once again, as a cartoon; his style is very much like the current vector-style cartoons that can be seen on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Disney Channel. On some gift cards, there is also a fish, elephant, and more.

  • "The World's JOY Store!"
  • "Lower Prices. Bigger Selection. Guaranteed."
  • "The World's Biggest."
  • "R toys us? You bet they R!" (as seen in a 1978 print ad)
  • "The World's Greatest Toy Store."
  • "The Biggest Selection"
  • "Play More, Spend Less."
  • "You'll never outgrow us."
  • "There's millions of toys all under one roof, it's called Toys "R" Us, Toys "R" Us, Toys "R" Us!" (used in the UK only)
  • "I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys "R" Us kid!" {by famed author James Patterson}
  • "When you think of toys, think of Toys "R" Us."
  • "Gee, what a toy store!"
  • "Britain's greatest toy store" (UK use)
  • "Canada's greatest toy store!" (Canadian use)
  • "Yo Quiero ser un niño Toys R Us" (Puerto Rico) "I want to be a Toys R Us kid"
  • "Time for Childhood"

Toys "R" Us, International is a separate division of which operates the toy stores outside of the United States. Toys "R" Us, International opened its first stores in 1984 in Singapore and Canada. Today, Toys "R" Us International operates, licenses or franchises approximately 600 toy stores in 29 countries outside the United States.

Toys "R" Us Japan
Toys "R" Us Japan
Toys "R" Us Japan
Toys "R" Us Japan

  1. ^ Wolk, Martin. "Toys 'R' Us wins suit against Amazon.com", MSNBC - U.S. Business, 2006-03-02. Retrieved on 2007-01-15. 
  2. ^ E-Commerce Times: Toys 'R' Us wins right to end amazon partnership., March 3, 2006
  3. ^ Monica Soto Ouchi. "Amazon waited to report impact of Toys R Us split", The Seattle Times, 2006-06-03. Retrieved on 2007-01-15. 
  4. ^ Laurie J. Flynn. "Costs soar at Amazon; stock dives", International Herald Tribune, 2006-06-26. Retrieved on 2007-01-15. 
  5. ^ "Toys 'R' Us to shutter 87 stores", Pittsburgh Business Times, 2006-01-11. Retrieved on 2007-01-15. 

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