Comment by listenallyall

It's not toys that need innovation but the Toys R Us business model. I loved going there as a kid too but it had been surpassed by WalMart in toy sales volume long before it went private. Target was probably close if not surpassed it, and video game sales were taken over by more convenient (and way more fun) GameStops. TOY stock had dropped a ton, and really was only hanging in there due to Babies R Us. All of this before Amazon was a serious retailer of anything besides books (meanwhile toysrus.com was a disaster that they took offline). It's a fun place to remember but I'm pretty sure if you walked into a replica Toys R Us from 1998 today you'd immediately be overwhelmed by suckiness - the horrible fluorescent lighting, zero customer service, lack of furnishings (Costco stores look nicer), nothing to actually try or play with, prices that weren't too competitive.