The Toy Store Is Dead. Long Live The Toy Store!

I have to pay homage. Bear witness. It IS the end of an era. Times have changed. Just as those of us who grew up with VHS tapes and mom-and-pop movie rental stores miss them, in spite of the superior quality of DVDs (which are on the way out now, too, thanks to livestreaming) and the convenience of Netflix (and that aforementioned livestreaming thing), we will all miss Toys R Us, just as we miss KayBee, which closed its doors years before it. But as this week sees the closing of the world’s largest toy store chain, we get news that Party City will be opening up its own toy store franchise, to be called “Toy City.” Nature abhors a void. Granted, Toy City will only be open part of the year, from September through December. But just as is the case with Frankenberry, Count Chocula, and Boo Berry cereals, which used to be available year-round but are now on shelves only around Halloween, we’ll take them when we can get them.

(There have even been rumors of KayBee staging a comeback, but we’ll have to wait and see if that materializes.)

Toys R Us was founded by Charles Lazarus in 1957. He retired in 1994, and died at the age of 94 just days after the franchise announced that it would be going out of business.

The toy store will live on. Don’t doubt it. The dream will live on. Don’t believe it? Just look at the last name of the company’s founder.

By TheCheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS, specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced, and directed (and occasionally acted in) over two dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and True Crime genres. He obtained a doctorate in Occult Studies from Miskatonic University and is an active paranormal investigator. Is frequently told he resembles Anton Lavey. And Ming the Merciless. Denn die totden reiten schnell!

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