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.

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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.