'End of an era': New York shoppers glum over Toys 'R' Us impending closure

it was the best place to hang out.

Maybe it was once, but every time I went to Toys-r-us, I marvelled at how dreary it was. Just bare floors and shelves of major brand toys - even a chain drugstore is cheerier. Compare that to some local toy stores I have been to, filled with whimsy and fun, the way one would imagine a toy store to be. Toys-r-us took all the fun and imagination out. There was never any doubt in my mind that they were going to go out of business.

May be the shops in the USA were better but the UK shops I visited in the past were like warehouses, full of plastic tat. Depressing.

Other toy shops are prospering, so it is not just the online competition that brought them down but debt (the inevitable consequence of private equity) and a lack of competent management and flair.

Toys-R-Us failed to adapt years ago and failed to improve their stores.

Their closure is the natural result of their failure to re-invest their business.