By The world is constantly changing. That’s the excitement of time we live it. It’s thrilling and a little depressing all at the same time. I remember being a kid and the big excitement came from hitting the local video store, going out to eat, and spending what seemed like hours wandering the aisles of Toys R’ Us.
Our video store, Henry’s Video, is long gone along with all the other movie rental shops. They lost out to Netflix and Redbox. My family’s favorite restaurant, Players Pizza, closed ages ago and casual dining in general seems to be slowing dying as the appeal of UberEats or more novelty restaurants have captured the attention of the Instagram and Snapchat generation.
And then there’s today.
Today marks the end of Toys R’ Us.
I’ll admit, with the ease of Amazon and the fact that I have a Target right across the street from my house, I haven’t stepped foot in a Toys R’ Us in years. One did open less than a year ago right down the street from me, but I never had much reason to go.
I did wander in there last week after seeing a movie with my friend Kevin, just to check things out.
Here’s what we found:
I will admit it was a bit depressing. Especially since this store had just opened about a month before it was announced that it would be closing down. It had actually just taken the place of long-gone Sports Authority.
I can’t say I’m feeling particularly sad about the closure but I guess there is that odd feeling of loss.
But I guess it’s a lot like growing up.
You fall into these habits and evolve from one to the other. So when something familiar has faded away into nothingness, you don’t really notice.
Like with video rentals. I still had my Blockbuster card when I signed up for Netflix but soon the convenience of having my rentals sent to me rather than having to fight traffic and limited selection took hold. Then came streaming. Soon, I wasn’t visiting Blockbuster anymore.
Then it was gone.
I don’t really shop for toys that often. I have been on my LEGO kick lately but I’ve been sticking to Target and Amazon for that little habit.
I don’t have kids of my own so the need for a toy store really isn’t there for me.
My life, like the rest of the world’s, evolved away from the need for a big box toy store.
It sucks to see a part of my childhood die like this but I guess we do all have to grow up at some point.
Just in case this wasn’t all depressing enough. Here’s the final farewell from the company:
Avoiding Neverland 
Toys R us killed off a lot of smaller toy stores as did Barnes and Nobel with bookstores. I have no sympathy for the corporations who didn’t move with the times but a great deal of sympathy for those who lost their job
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I agree. Granted, I grew up with the big corporation more than the smaller shops. I don’t think my generation fully appreciates the idea of small shops.
I had some first-hand experience with them when I lived in Cayucos, CA in my early teens. I had no choice but to embrace the small shop life. I haven’t been back there in almost 20 years- I can’t help but wonder what has changed for better or worse when it comes to small shops vs big chains.
Might make for an interesting adventure someday!
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