By 1966, he had four stores and $12 million in sales. He modeled his locations after the New York chain Korvettes, in which a large variety of products were stocked in long aisles, easily accessible by shopping cart. Lazarus opened his first toys-only store in 1957 in Rockville, Maryland, taking on the name Toys R Us in part because the letter “R” helped fit the store’s name onto signs. “I started out selling a few baby toys and realized that customers didn’t buy another crib or another high chair or playpen as their family grew, but they did buy toys for each child.” “The toy business was kind of an accident,” Lazarus later explained to the trade publication DSN Retailing Today. Last week, it announced it would sell or close all 735 of its U.S. Acquired by private equity firms in 2005, it eventually took on $7.9 billion of debt, according to bankruptcy filings. His company soon became mired in a pitched battle against big-box retailers such as Walmart, founded by his friend Sam Walton, and e-commerce giants such as Amazon. The “Toy King,” as Lazarus was christened in headlines, stepped down as chief executive in 1994. Sign up for our new Morning Report weekday newsletter. Start your day with the news you need from the Bay Area and beyond.

Over six decades, the company grew into an international empire with a flagship store in New York’s Times Square, a giraffe mascot named Geoffrey and an earworm jingle: “I don’t wanna grow up, I’m a Toys R Us kid.” Lazarus was 25 when he founded what became Toys R Us, his “supermarket for toys,” in 1948.

He was 94.Ī Toys R Us spokeswoman confirmed the death but did not provide additional details. He began selling toys after a couple of years when customers began asking for them, and he quickly concluded that, in the baby-boom years, toys were a more lucrative business than furniture.By Harrison Smith and Ellie Silverman | Washington PostĬharles Lazarus, who transformed his father’s Washington bicycle business into Toys R Us, a retail giant that rivaled Santa Claus’s workshop as one of the world’s largest distributors of games, dolls, stuffed animals and other children’s goodies before it declared bankruptcy in September, died March 22. The chain has its roots in Children's Bargain Town, the baby furniture store that Lazarus opened in his hometown of Washington, D.C., after returning from the Second World War. The stores created a magical feeling for children roaming aisles filled with Barbies, bikes and other toys laid out in front of them. Lazarus modelled his business after the self-service supermarkets that were becoming popular in the 1950s, stacking merchandise high to give shoppers the feeling it had an infinite number of toys. operationsīut for decades, it was Toys 'R' Us that drove trends in child's play, becoming a launchpad for what became some of the industry's hottest toys. Toys 'R' Us planning to liquidate its U.S. The fate of the Canadian stores is not yet clear, as some bidders have expressed interest in the business north of the border. No longer able to bear the weight of its heavy debt load, the company announced last week that it would close or sell its 735 stores across the country, including its Babies 'R' Us stores. More recently, Toys 'R' Us found itself unable to survive the trends of the digital age, namely competition from the likes of Amazon, discounters like Walmart and mobile games. Lazarus, who stepped down as CEO of Toys 'R' Us in 1994, transformed the toy industry with a business model that became one of the first retail category killers - big stores that are so devoted to one thing, and have such an impressive selection, that they drive smaller competitors out of business.

Multiple offers emerge for Toys 'R' Us Canada.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with Charles' family and loved ones.' 'There have been many sad moments for Toys R Us in recent weeks, and none more heartbreaking than today's news about the passing of our beloved founder, Charles Lazarus,' the company said. Toys 'R' Us confirmed Lazarus' death in a statement. Lazarus, the World War II veteran who founded Toys 'R' Us six decades ago and transformed it into an iconic piece of Americana, died Thursday at age 94, a week after the chain announced it was going out of business in the U.S.

Obit charles lazarus