WhereIsAtlas · Toy retail

Toys “R” Us

The toy cathedral that debt killed — and nostalgia resurrected

Transformed — US stores closed in 2018; the brand was revived and returned via Macy's in 2022.

Charles Lazarus started selling baby furniture in Washington, D.C. in 1948 and soon discovered that toys were the real business. The Toys “R” Us category-killer model — warehouse-scale selection at discount prices — made it the default destination for American childhood from the 1970s through the 1990s, complete with Geoffrey the Giraffe.

The fatal blow was not Amazon but leverage: the 2005 leveraged buyout by KKR, Bain and Vornado loaded the company with $6.6 billion in debt whose interest consumed its cash just as e-commerce accelerated. Toys “R” Us filed for Chapter 11 in September 2017 and liquidated all ~800 US stores by mid-2018.

The story didn't end there. The brand relaunched under Tru Kids in 2019, opened a flagship in New Jersey in 2021, and returned to malls nationwide in 2022 through shop-in-shop locations inside Macy's — smaller, lighter, and betting that the name still means something to parents who grew up there.

Timeline

  1. 1948 — Children's Bargain Town: Lazarus opens a baby-furniture store in Washington, D.C. and pivots to toys. (Washington, D.C.)
  2. 1957 — Toys “R” Us opens: The first toys-only superstore opens in Rockville, Maryland.
  3. 1978 — IPO and expansion: Going public funds a national — then global — rollout to hundreds of stores.
  4. 1996 — Peak era: The chain tops ~1,500 locations worldwide and becomes synonymous with American childhood.
  5. 2005 — The $6.6B buyout: KKR, Bain and Vornado take the company private, loading it with debt it never outruns.
  6. Sep 2017 — Chapter 11: Toys “R” Us files for bankruptcy, planning reorganisation — liquidation follows instead.
  7. Jun 2018 — All US stores close: Roughly 800 American locations shut; Geoffrey the Giraffe is 'retired'.
  8. 2021–22 — The comeback attempt: Tru Kids opens flagships and ~400 Macy's shop-in-shops bring the brand back to malls.

Quick facts

Founded
1948, Washington, D.C.
Founder
Charles Lazarus
2005 LBO debt
$6.6B
Bankruptcy
Sep 2017
US stores closed
≈ 800 by mid-2018
Revived
Tru Kids (2019) · Macy's shops (2022)

Sources

  1. Wikipedia: Toys %22R%22 Us — Wikipedia (2026-01-10)
  2. Toys R Us to liquidate US stores — CNN (2025-12-05)
  3. Toys R Us returns to Macy's — The New York Times (2025-12-05)

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