Thursday, April 5, 2018

We Were Toys "R" Us Kids

Media Play. Blockbuster. Now Toys "R" Us is going out of business.

Sure, their prices weren't great, and they couldn't compete in a growing online marketplace against behemoths like Walmart and Amazon. And, as my dad used to describe it, the store always smelled like "baby vomit."

But I couldn't help but get a little sad at the news that another piece of my childhood is disappearing.

Image credit: Facebook

Toys "R" Us was a pretty big part of my growing-up years. I'll never forget riding a brand new bike out of the store on my seventh birthday, or going there with my older brother for my thirteenth birthday to pick out a Lego set (his treat). I played game demos there during the era of Nintendo 64 and the first Playstation. And who didn't feel like Christmas had come a little early when that big holiday catalog arrived in the mail?

Toys "R" Us taught me how to save my money, as I made the first major purchase of my life--a Gameboy Color and Pokémon Red Version--with months and months of accumulated allowance.

It helped me develop decent phone skills, too, as I often called my local stores to see if certain items were in stock. (These were the days before online shopping, of course.)

And, even as an adult, I continued making memories there, from raiding collectible Lego minifigures with a friend, to finding Christmas gifts for my own children--the next generation, I assumed, of Toys "R" Us kids.

But not all things last forever.

A while ago I drove past the Toys "R" Us I went to as a kid. It was already demolished--a visual reminder that we've all grown up.

I'll be fine without it. Stores like Walmart already earned the lion's share of my business long ago.

But I couldn't let Toys "R" Us die without paying my little tribute to the store that gave me so much. I'm glad it existed. I can hardly believe it's gone.

Here's to Toys "R" Us.

Here's to childhood, play, and simpler days.


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