Farewell to Toys ‘R’ Us, and an Era of Play

When I was growing up in Washington, I used to haunt Sullivan’s Toy Store a few blocks from my home, searching for Revell models I could build. At Christmas time, the thick, lushly photographed FAO Schwarz catalog arrived, and along with my brothers and sisters I would ooh and ahh over elaborate castles and fancy train sets our family couldn’t possibly afford. But deep down, we knew that such moments were mere stopgaps, ways of marking the passage of time between rare but wonderful visits to the fabled children’s Xanadu known as Toys ‘R’ Us.

I still remember the excitement of my first visit to the shrine, located out in the suburbs. I stood the middle of the store, turning this way and that. Overwhelmed by the shelves upon shelves of toys, I finally turned to my mother and said, “Oh my goodness, where should we meet? ” A moment later, I broke free of her restraining hand, racing to the games counter, where I stared in disbelief at what seemed mile-high stacks of Sorry! and Candy Land and Life. Another aisle featured Revell models, even the hard-to-find Moon Ship, in unimaginable quantities. Having visited once, I pleaded regularly with my mother for a return trip, saving my allowance of 50 cents for the rare occasions when she said yes. I was a child, so it never occurred to me that my newfound retail preference was helping a store that would become a category killer kill the category.