Toys "R" Us, officially trademarked as Toys "Я" Us, is a toy store chain based in the United States. The chain also has locations in Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and Canada. The company currently operates 840 stores in the United States and 716 stores in 34 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 world, featuring a colorful Ferris wheel. It is the largest toy-centered retailer and the second largest overall toy retailer in the United States
History
The early years
The original Children's Supermart location is now Madam's Organ Blues Bar on 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan
Charles Lazarus initially started Children's Supermart, which would later evolve into the modern day Toys "R" Us in Washington, DC during the post-war baby boom era in 1948 as a baby furniture retailer. 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. After adding baby toys, he got requests for more mature toys. Eventually, the focus of the store changed in 1957 and Toys "R" Us as it is known today was born in Rockville, Maryland. Toys "R" Us was acquired in 1966 by Interstate Stores, owner of the White Front and Topps Department Stores as well as Children's Bargain Town USA, a sister toy store chain to Toys "R" Us in the American Midwest which would later be rebranded as part of the Toys "R" Us chain. 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.
The buyout
In an effort to improve its company, 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 invested $1.3 billion in new equity to complete the $6.6 billion leveraged buyout of the toy giant. Public stock closed for the last time at $26.74, just pennies from the 68-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. However, the company still files with the Securities and Exchange Commission as required by its debt agreements. On May 28, 2010 Toys "R" Us filed with the SEC to raise up to $800 million in an initial public offering.
Interior of a store in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Amazon.com lawsuit
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 companies' perspectives. The judge in the matter believed Amazon's top officials were not completely forthcoming in their testimony during the trial:
In her written opinion, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Margaret Mary 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."
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. 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.
Closure of 87 stores
On January 9, 2006, Toys "R" Us announced that 87 stores in the United States would close that year, most closing within the spring. Twelve more stores were to be converted to the "Babies "R" Us" format. Approximately 5,000 jobs were eliminated as a result of the closures.
Toys R Us Holiday Express
Toys "R" Us Holiday Express is a new series of smaller stores in the United States and Canada opened during the 2009 Christmas shopping season. The Holiday Express stores are much smaller than regular Toys "R" Us locations, often located in malls, and offer a more limited selection of merchandise than would be available at a normal sized standalone Toys "R" Us store. In opening these stores, many of which were located in former KB Toys locations that had not been occupied since the chain's closure in February 2009, Toys "R" Us sought to gain mall customers, take advantage of vacancies in malls and shopping centers, and attempt to fill the void that the KB stores had left behind. Toys "R" Us had planned to close all of these stores by mid-January 2010, but some stores did so well that they were kept open well past the targeted closure dates. The stores that remained open dropped the "Holiday" from their names and became simply known as "Toys "R" Us Express" stores.
Affiliated chains
Toys "R" Us store at United Square Mall, Singapore
An exterior of a typical second generation Toys "R" Us store in Mount Berry, Georgia, United States.
Toys "R" Us, Inc. also owns other chains/businesses:
KB Toys - The KB Toys brand and related copyrights were auctioned off to Toys R Us on September 4, 2009 for $2.1 Million. Plans for KB Toys remains unknown.
FAO Schwarz - Upscale toy retailer headquartered in New York City. The store and its Las Vegas satellite were purchased by the company on May 28, 2009.
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. One of the Kids "R" Us locations was found at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. That location is now home to Marshalls.
Babies "R" Us - Superstores specializing in clothing, furniture, toys and other accessories for babies.
Scoops "R" Us - An ice cream restarant that is going to open in the flagship Times Square store.
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 Northeast Wisconsin market. Other locations include Louisville, Kentucky, San Antonio and Austin, Texas. Each location had a playground at the front of the store. These stores are currently in the process of being reverted back to regular Toys "R" Us stores as of spring 2008, although the name still remains.
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, Philippines and Singapore.
Toys "R" Us KidsWorld - A toy superstore format introduced in 1996. Stores were built in Elizabeth, New Jersey (which was remodeled into a Toys "R" US/Babies "R" Us Superstore), 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.
Toys "R" Us Express - mini store version of Toys "R" Us, found inside Asian stores. (Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan (Republic of China), Wollongong, Australia and other) Also found in some malls in United States (Great Lakes Crossing, Michigan; Westland Mall, Michigan; Newburgh Mall, New York; Wenatchee Valley Mall, Washington) or a shopping plaza like in Granada Hills, California.
Imaginarium - Initially, Imaginarium was an independent chain of kids toy stores with a focus on learning toys, with most of its stores located in malls. Toys "R" Us bought the chain in 1999. Its mascots were Cosmo (a purple puppy) and Professor Fun. When most of the Toys "R" Us stores were remodeled, their redesigned layouts include an Imaginarium department. Imaginarium still exists as a independent store in Portugal.
Studio Alice- Found inside Toys "R" Us in Japan.
eToys.com - ecommerce site acquired February 12, 2009 from bankrupt The Parent Company.
BabyUniverse.com - another ecommerce site acquired February 12, 2009 from bankrupt The Parent Company.
ePregnancy.com - parenting resource website acquired February 12, 2009 from bankrupt The Parent Company.
Logos
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The yellow reverse "R" in quotation marks, which is similar to the Cyrillic letter Я, (ISO 9: Я), 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 1969 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. The "R Us" name 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 reverse R. The letter R was changed from yellow to blue (Though the star in logo #2 is sometimes yellow, letter R Blue). Since May 2008, the UK stores of Toys 'R' Us now use the new logo. Newly refurbished stores now display the revised logo, as does the UK website and all media publications. (Note, the Teesside Park store still carries logo #2)
Mascot
Geoffrey in his current design.
Geoffrey jr in a Toys "R" Us store in Japan.
In the 1960s, an anthropomorphic giraffe cartoon 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 Gi, was introduced. In 1979, his son 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, brother of actor Tom Hanks, in commercials for radio and television. The character's present appearance is again that of a cartoon.
On September 14, 2009, it was learned that Tweet, a real giraffe also used in the early 2000s commercials, died on Friday, September 11, 2009, after filming his latest movie at the Franklin Park Zoo. The 18-year-old giraffe apparently collapsed while feeding and in the care of his trainer, and had just completed shooting his part in the movie, Kevin James' The Zookeeper.
International locations
Toys "R" Us, International is a separate division which operates the toy stores outside of the United States. Toys "R" Us, International opened its first stores in 1980 in Hong Kong. Today, Toys "R" Us International operates, licenses or franchises approximately 716 toy stores in 34 countries outside the United States.
Toys "R" Us Japan
Toys "R" Us France
Toys "R" Us Japan
Australia, established 1993, 35 stores and 3 Babies "R" Us stores
Austria, 14 stores
Bahrain, 1 store
Brunei, established August 2000, 2 stores
Canada, established 1984, 71 stores
China, established December 2006, 14 stores: 11 Toys "R" Us Main stores and 2 Toys "R" Us Express stores plus 1 Toy Box
Denmark, established 1995, 13 stores
Egypt, 4 stores
Finland, established 2006, 4 stores
France, established 1987, 120 Stores
Germany, established 1987, 57 Stores
Hong Kong, established 1980, 9 Main stores and 2 Toys "R" Us Express stores
Iceland, established October 2007, 26 stores
Israel, established 1995, 27 stores
Japan, established 1989, 150 stores and 20 Babies "R" Us stores
Kuwait, established July 5, 2009, 1 store
Macau, 1 Toys "R" Us Express store
Malaysia, 20 stores: 6 Main stores, 7 Toys "R" Us Express stores and 5 Toy Box
Norway, 8 stores
Oman, 1 store
Philippines, established July 1, 2006, 32 stores: 4 Main stores and 3 Toys "R" Us Express stores plus 25 Toy Box
Portugal, 8 stores
Qatar, 1 store
Saudi Arabia, established 1996, 10 stores
Singapore, established 1984, 6 stores
South Africa, 22 stores
South Korea, established 2007
Spain, 45 stores
Sweden, established 1994, 14 stores
Switzerland, 4 Stores
Republic of China, Taiwan, 16 stores: 8 Main stores plus 8 Toys "R" Us Express stores
Thailand, established 2005, 9 stores: 3 Main stores + 6 Toys "R" Us Express / Toybox stores
United Arab Emirates, established 1995, 6 stores
United Kingdom, established 1985, 77 stores and 3 Babies "R" Us stores
United States, established 1948 as Children's Supermart, changed its name to Toys "R" Us in 1957, and in the early 1970s, Interstate Stores, Inc. (now known as Toys "R" Us, Inc.) bought out Children's Bargain Town USA, a similar midwest toy store chain.
Countries where Toys R Us is no longer active
Netherlands, established 1993, 17 stores. All stores continued on March 3, 2009 as Toys XL. Toys "R" Us tried to sell its stores in 1997, but encountered objections from the European Competition regulator.
Turkey, the stores in Turkey are now changed to Toyiki, because the firm that the Toys"R"Us brand was franchised to wanted to create its own brand.
- Super Shops,:
(source:wikipedia)
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