Irony Watch Toys R Us and Atmosphere
There’s a humor website that I enjoy visiting quite a bit called Overtime Comedy that recently posted an item that was both toy related and noteworthy for this site. They do a regular series called Irony Watch where… they talk about things that are ironic. In this post they talked about how Toys R US was (and still pretty much is) advertised as a toy paradise for children. They ran the following YouTube video of a classic Toys R Us commercial:
Their point was that most Toys R Us stores look like warehouses without any personality, which is something I never really thought about. In my child’s eye view of Toys R Us it was a magical place, but in reality it was just long rows of metal shelves filled with junk that my parents would rarely buy me (I don’t blame them, Toys R Us was a lot more expensive than most other stores that sold toys). There wasn’t anything about the place aside from the products that was really interesting or appealing about the store. Am I wrong here? Was your Toys R Us store any different?
Now days there’s a couple of different types of Toys R Us stores and while they are lacking any kind of atmosphere, the one that I live by actually has the long rows of aisles pretty much the way they had them in my childhood. I prefer this store mostly because it brings back good feelings, but it’s just as empty and cold as any other Toys R Us out there.
August 3rd, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I haven’t been to a TRU in years outside of some run down looking one in Pensacola, FL a few years back. And even that one was mostly dominated by Babies R Us and a unusually large video section (which featured quite a few videos I wouldn’t even consider approriate for kids).
I miss the glory days of TRU of wall to wall action figures and board games. The closest one here in Lansing, MI, is about 30 minutes away and I haven’t dared make the trek.
Isn’t TRU slowing dying off anyway?
August 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
There used to be a Toys R Us in town but it went out of business due to the high prices. It was a relatively suck place too. I think the coolest memory I ever had there was getting Gundams for like 80% off because no one liked them anymore(except me) and because the store was closing.
The closest one now is an old one, which is 30 minutes away and used to be awesome, but now is pretty pathetic. I’ll take it though, as the internet makes me wait too long to get cool toys. And surprisingly charges me more anyway.
August 4th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I think that people have just changed their preference in large warehouse stores, for X’ers it was Toy’s R US, for Boomers like me it was a small Ben Franklin Dime store. Now we matured and the vision has changed… Sam’s, Costco, and similiar stores parking lots are full. Where else can I get cases of adult diapers and toilet paper so cheap.
August 4th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
we would always hit department stores and KayBee. TRU was never reachable because the traffic was lousy trying to get there. My parents excuse anyway.
August 5th, 2008 at 3:14 am
I don’t get it: are they saying Toys R Us would be better if the toys were just piled around randomly, instead of placed on shelves?
I never had a Toys R Us near me when I was a kid. Even KB was a long drive and a rare trip…
August 5th, 2008 at 8:56 am
I miss the TRU of old. I miss the dedicated action figure section with the huge dioramas. Back in 96 or 97 my local TRU has a HUUUUUGER Kenner Star Wars set up that made it look like the hanger of the Death Star. That my friends, was the balls.
Now TRU has been edged out by the likes of Target & WalMart … toy sections haven’t been the same since.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:26 am
[...] takes a look at the Toys R Us that was, and the lies we were told as children. [...]
August 5th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
As a kid, I always preferred Children’s Palace until it went out of business. By that time I had pretty much stopped getting toys, though I would go there for video games from time to time. As an adult I’ve gone there from time to time, espcially for some of the great World of Springfield exclusives.
August 5th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
At Yo: I think they are saying that the store lacks any kind of atmosphere, like a lot of smaller toy shops have.