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Wanna Be A Toys R Us Kid!
9 Plays12 days ago
Josh reminisces about his years as Toys R Us kid and Tyler answers trivia about the origins of the company. Toys have changed and the business is changing making it harder to find traditional toys in a troubled economy.
Where you a TRU kid? Got some memories to share?
speakpipe.com/genx4lifepodcast
Or stop by and leave a comment on Spotify or Instagram.
I'll be live at https://greatcanadianhalloween.com/ market on Sep 21 in Mississauga so come by and share your Halloween stories!
Until then, have a Yabba Zonkers Zoinks! Saturday!
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey, welcome back listeners. This is Josh. And this is Yabazonka Zoinks. And it is probably for you. It is probably Saturday morning because that's when the episodes launch, which is really exciting.
Vacation Plans and Excitement for Toys Discussion
00:00:13
Speaker
I got to try to, you know, get ready for my vacation that's coming up soon. But before I do that, we've I want to make sure that you know that I'm sitting here talking with Tyler. Hey, Josh. Hey, everyone.
00:00:25
Speaker
So excited to be here today, as I mentioned, and I'm going to throw my first question to Tyler. Oh, yeah here we go. okay throw away arise slow Oh,
Nostalgia for Toys R Us and Childhood Memories
00:00:36
Speaker
gosh.
00:00:36
Speaker
So what was the last thing you remember buying at a Toys R Us store? oh you weren't ready for that. Okay.
00:00:48
Speaker
Uh, it was probably Funko. I'm really trying to, I'm really trying to quickly think. Um, I'm trying to think really which location it was Markham or Don Mills.
00:00:59
Speaker
Um, it was probably Funko. And I don't know. I'm really trying to think like, has it actually been a long time like browsing versus actually having bought something?
00:01:15
Speaker
You know what I mean? What about you? I'm going to keep thinking. i'm I was trying to think of this too, because I'm like, it's it's been a while since I actually bought something, but I know that it was probably, I'm going to say it was about two years ago.
00:01:28
Speaker
Yeah. And it was because I had to get sort of a fun gag gift for one of those Christmas party swaps. So I think I ran in and I bought a, like a board game or something.
00:01:41
Speaker
But of course I took a loop around the store and it was weird because I went to Don Mills which is always odd for me. But yeah, so that's, I think that was it. I think it was a board game was last thing and it was at least two years ago.
00:01:55
Speaker
I'm having a quick look around my dwindling collection to see if I'm reminded of anything. And I'll bet you whatever it was, I probably already sold it. yeah totally and letni No, I don't know. I can't guess.
00:02:10
Speaker
so So just for the listeners that don't know, or you're probably going, how did you go into a Toys R Us? Well, in Canada, Toys R Us still exists for now. can't remember. You were saying how we still have stores in Canada. Oh, yeah, that's right. We're still around. like Now, and unfortunately, that is also changing, but we're going to talk about that. So just give me a second and play our theme song and then we'll get right to it.
00:02:33
Speaker
Hey, don't turn that channel. You've reached Yabba Sucker's Wings, the Saturday morning podcast where your host, Josh Downing, now that's me, will take you on a trip through a Gen X Saturday morning of cereal, toys, cartoons, and so much more. So grab your honeycombs and your favorite Micronaut and sit back and enjoy.
00:02:55
Speaker
So welcome back. We're going to talk a little bit today about toy stores and some of our experiences with toy stores. Because ah the other day i was ah in a neighborhood not too far from where I live.
00:03:09
Speaker
doing some business and realized I was in the parking lot of a Toys R Us store and it was the first Toys R Us store that I worked at that I started working at in 1996. The store is now closed and the front of the store was all boarded up with plywood.
00:03:23
Speaker
um The sign's still out on the street though, which I found really weird. But a lot's happened in the toy business and the toy industry and you know toy retailers. And fortunately, it's ah it's starting to impact Canada as well. But I just thought it would be fun to talk about Toys R Us and toy stores.
00:03:39
Speaker
So we started off with ah when was the last time we were in? And as a collector, I know that they did in the Canadian stores, we still had that big sort of collector shop because they turned the R zone into like the collector zone.
00:03:53
Speaker
That's right. That's right. Yeah. So there was still some really cool stuff, expensive stuff, but still really cool that you could go in and, you know, yeah they had Funkos and they had, you know, video game toys.
00:04:04
Speaker
I know I bought Martina, the eight inch headless horseman figure from the Toys R Us in Pickering thinking, oh I'll find another one for me. And never again. And that wasn't that long ago. That might've been the last purchase, but anyway.
00:04:21
Speaker
Yeah. So thinking, thinking back about your sort of childhood toy experience, where, where did you remember seeing toys or have your family buy toys?
00:04:31
Speaker
We had a chain called play time. Okay. And, uh, it's funny because all those stories were so basic. They were just shelves and carpet. You know what mean? And I guess, know, that's funny. Yeah.
00:04:46
Speaker
And, you know, that's where all the Tonka was. That's where all the coloring books were. Oh, wait, I got to go further back. Dominion Playworld um was where my first Scooby-Doo puzzle came from.
00:05:01
Speaker
and I remember my mom saying to me, so I'm like three, right? And my mom saying to me, oh, I think you're a little young for that. I'm like, well, daddy can put it together, you know? and we We bought it and we went home that night and my I sat at the dining room table with my dad and he put it together. yeah All 100 underlying It's a wonderful memory.
00:05:22
Speaker
And that was a cool toy store because that was more like what you would see in a movie. Like, you know what I mean? It wasn't that sparse sort of, even though it was a mall store. There was one in Scarborough and there was one in Fairview. I don't know if there was more.
00:05:36
Speaker
And anyway, that really is the first. And then it would be that playtime chain and the department stores, you know, specifically Eaton's and Sears.
00:05:47
Speaker
Yeah. um And not so much Simpsons. I don't really have a lot of memories about. oh no, I do. I'm sorry. It's coming back. And that was really it. Like we didn't have the jumbo stores that America had.
00:06:01
Speaker
So when we would go to the States, I'd be like, whoa, what it is this? You can leave me here, you know? Yeah. um Well, and we had, you know, you guys didn't have Miracle Mart, the grocery chain, did you? No, we didn't. Yeah. So Miracle Mart was a chain here and they had ah department store and they had excellent toy
Toy Retail Differences Between Canada and the U.S.
00:06:21
Speaker
department actually. Yeah.
00:06:22
Speaker
That's where yeah that's where my a lot of my Migos stuff came from um as I got a little older. um But anyway, sorry. So West Coast version, what was your story? Yeah. So I don't remember small toy stores until I got a little bit older and then I would see them in malls.
00:06:40
Speaker
And that would be like, I think was called like wheels. toys and wheels. Toys and wheels. And they think there was another one that it's called wheels and things. Yeah. Not wheels and wings, but I think it was actually called wheels and things.
00:06:53
Speaker
yeah when i When I moved to Vancouver and I went to Toys and Wheels for the first time, o ah see the Sequest action figures had just launched and I bought a couple there. I bought Roy Scheider and the heavy guy. anyway Yeah, of course, because that's what you did.
00:07:09
Speaker
Yeah, that's right um But i for me growing up, I think I saw my toys at Kmart. That was the primary place. yeah And I think that there was also toys at Wolko and Woolworths.
00:07:24
Speaker
Woodward's had a toy department. but i don't think my parents spent as much time there as they did in kmart like kmart was an all-day shopping trip whether we had a good section yeah yeah it was it was decent like i remember it was at the back of the store just before the automotive and the the gardening section just like it is in every store wigs and wig yeah Just past the the stand with the legs pantyhose on. Yeah, exactly. That's how I knew where I was going the right way. the giant egg and past the the music department.
00:07:58
Speaker
Exactly. Where you could buy a guitar and a record. I'm just asking this today. i'm like, how come you never see anybody sitting on their porch playing the trumpet? ah right Because Kmart is gone. That must be the end of trumpet playing. Yeah, that's what killed it. Vitolins and ukuleles. like Yeah, that's very funny. Because Kmart left us.
00:08:21
Speaker
Miles Davis is spinning in his grave. Totally. But not spinning like we he's just twisting. ah Oh, yeah twisting. ah Yeah. So most of my my toys would have been from Kmart.
00:08:35
Speaker
sure And i remember like it it was it was magic. And I remember that I think I told the train story, the train set story how I wanted this train set. And it was massive. Like, you know, the box was taller than me, but it was way up on the wall behind, I think like the sporting goods section, which was really weird.
00:08:55
Speaker
Cause the, it was too big to sit on the shelf. Overstock, right? Like, yeah. And it was like all the train sets were back there on this wall so that they could be protected because they were expensive too. Right.
00:09:06
Speaker
Sure. So, and they didn't want people like poking their fingers through and taking all the trains out. or by Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and that's that's where i you know I experienced the $6 million dollars man. and um What was the other one?
00:09:20
Speaker
and Any Star Wars that came through? it's just there that was my first my first And then once again, I said before that we traveled to the U.S. a lot. So we shopped in the Bellingham area.
00:09:32
Speaker
That was like, I want to say Jaeger's, but maybe that was just clothing. But I don't know. I think they all said sporting goods. But that's, I think, one of the stores where I first found my Micronauts. Oh, that's a big deal. remember playtime having Micronauts.
00:09:47
Speaker
And Kmart, I got my Jawa and my Luke Skywalker came from Kmart. Nice. Yeah. Nice. And the thing about Kmart is they were the only ones remember that supported that alien action figure when it came out with the movie in the 70s. Yeah.
00:10:04
Speaker
It was a great experience. um My family didn't shop at Zeller's that I know of. if I think my mom used to say Zeller's is too expensive. Zeller's had a decent toy department and ah very good kids book department.
00:10:18
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't really knock them like in the 70s, you know. But department stores were awesome, right? Because they totally you know they were stocked. They had everything. you know it was and it was And as you say, you go for the day.
00:10:34
Speaker
yes you went for the day. And Kmart is the one that I think like literally has every department in it. yeah You know, it's like, remember that jingle, you know, bowling balls and skirts and, you know, so on. I'm like, yeah, that's Kmart. They literally have everything. i I got my goldfish from Kmart.
00:10:54
Speaker
but I think I got the aquarium from Kmart. so how does we wonder I don't understand. yeah Although they're still in Australia. Kmart is? Yeah, yeah.
00:11:06
Speaker
no way. Yeah. Let me Google that while you're talking. All right. You do. Cause I'm like, that sounds weird. Yeah. Hold on. You keep talking. All right. So, so that kind of brings us to Toys R Us and Toys R Us was a bit of a, an anomaly in Toys R Us.
00:11:22
Speaker
Didn't hit Canada right away. i don't remember exactly what year Toys R Us came to Canada, I do remember celebrating the anniversary. um But it was a big deal when Toys R Us finally finally hit hit our part of the world.
00:11:40
Speaker
Well, wasn't Thornhill the first one in Toronto, or am I wrong? um I'm trying to think. i It might have been one of the first. Isn't that the one that Mr. opened? Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:52
Speaker
opened yeah But I think he opened a lot of them. Oh, that's funny. um Yeah, i think that you I think you're right. I think Thornhill was one of the first. I can't remember the store numbers anymore. isn't that weird?
00:12:05
Speaker
Can you read that? it's 324 Kmarts in Australia right now. That is just crazy. So obviously it's a license thing where they just said, yeah. I only know that from works, but I thought there was a lot, thought there was maybe 50.
00:12:20
Speaker
That's so hilarious. Maybe the letter K means something different in Australian. It's Koala Mart or Kiwi Mart. That's what it is. You got it. But it is legit. That's awesome. And they still have the same logo and everything. ye Yep. Yep. Yep.
00:12:33
Speaker
I think that there's still some Toys R Us's out there somewhere too. Yeah, I don't think Canada was the only one they kept going. No, I know the UK shut down. Yeah, that's a big deal because their economy me was so good. so yeah And this the stores were were top.
00:12:48
Speaker
um And then I know that the Asian stores also closed. I think there was stores in Japan and stores in China. Oh, course there was. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, which is sad. Well, we had that one competing store against Toys R Us, and I can't remember what it was called. I want to say Child World, but that was America. But it was like Child Something. There was one at Victoria Park in Shepherd, which is a Winners now, TJX.
00:13:14
Speaker
um And that's where all my peewee stuff came from. And that's where my Hall of Justice came
Toys R Us Returns Desk Stories
00:13:20
Speaker
from that you have. Nice. ah Yeah, but i can't I can't remember the name of that store. There was a panda bear like in the logo.
00:13:28
Speaker
Does that mean anything to you? no that does not ring a bell. Okay. Anyway, sorry. So listeners, if you know, hey. Or if you are that panda. If you're the panda and you are listening, yeah we we'd like to we'd like to get the scoop on that, please.
00:13:43
Speaker
We'd like you to call in and we have some questions. Yeah, totally. Totally. Don't be shy. Yeah. So let me see something. I've got something here. OK. So Toys hit Canada in 1984. So that's about right. Yeah.
00:13:56
Speaker
so that's about right yeah Mr. T was in crime. And Hulk Hogan. Didn't Hulk Hogan open? Oh, he probably did. Wrestlers were big. It was always wrestlers when when they opened new stores.
00:14:09
Speaker
Makes sense. So the reason we're we're kind of talking about this was because, as I said, um i saw I was standing in front of us with the a closed store, and it was the very first store that I started working in in 96.
00:14:22
Speaker
um And I was with Toys R Us about 15 years. So, yeah, if you want to hear some scary stories, I've got them all. um I might even share the take it to the lab story. Do you remember that one? do you remember me telling you that? i don't I don't know what that means. I'll definitely share the Yeah, with it there's lots of things I would never repeat. And there's names that we could mention. So many names. But I want to.
00:14:50
Speaker
And I wanted to. Anyway. ah Okay, so here's the take it to the lab story. ah This is a classic one, and i'm I'm not going to tell it in my normal flavor, but I will sort of give you the gist of it, because it is a great story.
00:15:04
Speaker
So I was the front-end manager at the Thornhill location of Toys R Us. And I'm standing at the the refund counter because that's where I lived most of my days for two years.
00:15:16
Speaker
And these two women suddenly appeared at the desk and they were probably in their fifties. One was blonde. One was brunette. They both had very large sunglasses on.
00:15:30
Speaker
They were both wearing matching floor length fur coats buttoned right up. It wasn't particularly cold, but they they probably have felt cold. It was real fur.
00:15:46
Speaker
And they just stood there. and then all sudden, one of them just slowly put a box on the counter. this is starting to sound familiar. and The box was opened.
00:16:00
Speaker
And it was a training potty for like a toddler. So... Of course, it's open. So I very carefully with one finger peeled back the lid of the box and I looked inside and I could see there was urine on the the training seat. You got off easy. It was stained. Yeah.
00:16:20
Speaker
And I just said, I'm so sorry. i cannot take this back. It has been used. And they both just kind of stood there like stunned, shocked, and they looked at each other. and back and forth and then looked at me and said no it's not used i'm like oh no it's absolutely used there is there are spots and stains on it they're probably still wet And there's some fur from your coats. Totally.
00:16:45
Speaker
You let your furers the potty. And they they argued with me for several minutes. And I finally just that i just pushed it back to them and i just said, I'm so sorry. It's unsanitary.
00:16:59
Speaker
We cannot take back a used toilet. So they stood there and then they whispered back and forth to each other for a couple of minutes. And then one of them pushed it back towards me and said, take it to the lab.
00:17:13
Speaker
And I was like, what? Sorry, what do you what are you saying to me? Take it to the lab. I'm like, this is a toy store. We don't have a lab. No, take it to the lab. They'll prove that it's not used.
00:17:26
Speaker
Sounds like you needed a lab, though. Seriously. And i I was just shocked at this point. I'm like, no, do you seriously think that we have a laboratory with some scientists working in the back?
00:17:39
Speaker
And I wouldn't have been surprised by that because people thought that we had you know elves in the back seriously making toys. But they argued with me, no, take it to the lab. The lab will prove it. And I'm like, all right.
00:17:51
Speaker
So I picked up this box. I walked into the back room to the office. And the store director was sitting at his desk. And I put this on the desk.
00:18:03
Speaker
I opened the lid, tilted it so he could see. and he kind of like jumped back was like, oh And I said, is this used? And he's like, disgustingly used.
00:18:14
Speaker
I'm like, great. Thank you. Put the lid back on, walk back out. And I said, the lab says it's used. Yeah. Yeah. And I could see the sparks and they were like, you know, back and forth, did just did good malfunctioning. Yep.
00:18:29
Speaker
Five minutes later, they just picked up their potty and left. Excellent. Thank you. Right.
00:18:35
Speaker
Next. Yep. Oh my goodness. That's just a classic story. and And that was, that was just one. incident i had a lot of those at uh toys rs i'm going to interject and tell ah tell it like it is because you can't even though that story isn't there anymore josh would tell me horror stories day after day ah just about the constant abuse at that returns desk and i would just be like shocked they just the story after story after story and just the abuse was just disgusting
00:19:10
Speaker
And, you know, i used to say to him, I want to come by the store sometime and just stand there. And just because you can't say anything, I'll be the one to just, you know, say things to these people, and you know, be a customer. you can say consent You know, I'm like, oh, my gosh, just I can't imagine what it must be like today.
00:19:28
Speaker
Other than the fact that you can just return everything. so Oh, totally. It's always going to give you a hassle. But yeah you know but back then, ah return policy was fairly strict. i mean you you Basically, it was like if it's used...
00:19:42
Speaker
If it's abused, if you broke it in half by yourself, I'm sorry, we're we're not taking it back. Like you couldn't return anything in Canada until the 90s. You know, like you bought it, it's yours. You know, didn't have that option.
00:19:56
Speaker
You know, oh all the years that I worked for Club Monaco, we had a zero return policy. Yeah. yeah Unless it was defective and then we would just swap it. Right. But if you just wore it out. tough beans that's yours you own it yeah so yeah so yeah no i i i had a lot of pretty awful retail stories um in my years at toys r us um i had people throwing things at me i had people jumping over the counter and trying to kill me um i had a woman uh smash ah wooden table into my back um because i wouldn't take back something she had broken but you know
00:20:35
Speaker
Besides all that, i I loved being in the toy industry.
Toy Industry Career Journey
00:20:40
Speaker
it was It was really it was exciting. It was where I wanted to be. um and I eventually got to a couple of places that i were really cool in that because I got to be a regional sales manager, which was amazing.
00:20:52
Speaker
And so I did a couple of years of that. And I also got to be a buyer. So I was ah hired as an assistant buyer, for the girls department so that was saying a barbie and jewelry all that kind of stuff all the baby dolls and strange enough what ended up happening was the the person that was um so there was an assistant buyer who was taking the buyer's role while the buyer went on maternity leave she quit
00:21:25
Speaker
Soon as I started, she had basically already given her two weeks notice. So I had no one to train me. So I was training with the buyer and then the buyer had to go on maternity to leave early. So I had nobody. So I'm sitting in the buyer's office.
00:21:37
Speaker
People are calling me saying, Hey, are you still going to pick up these, you know, or these orders? from Mattel and I'm like sure yeah let's do that yeah we yeah we could use more that we'll take some more Barbies magic animal says yes totally I would just call up vendors and say hi can I have some more pallets of you know Barbie dream house and they would laugh and go well no it doesn't work like that and I'm like oh okay I'll call you back Okay. How do I get some more Barbie dream houses? I built some great relationships with some merchants and so they'd be like, look, I'll take care of some stuff. I'll get you some Barbie dream houses. Don't you worry.
00:22:15
Speaker
it was It was pretty crazy. And it took a little while before they were able to actually put somebody else in the role. But unfortunately, that person was also not a buyer and did not have experience buying. Oh, good job. So we would just sit there in the office and laugh our heads off going, we don't know what we're doing.
00:22:32
Speaker
and like, just call up a vendor. They'll get you some stuff. Don't worry. Don't worry if it's somebody else's, like another vendor or sorry, another retailer stuff. But yeah, it was ah that was pretty crazy.
00:22:43
Speaker
Have you seen that Mattel display that's at Walmart right now? It's Mattel anniversary. i think it's 80th anniversary. And they've done all these, you know, their biggest lines all in red packaging.
00:22:57
Speaker
So matter what it is, the toy is red. Like Tom's the tank, red. Hot Wheels car carrying case, red. Barbie, red. Like it's it's it's actually pretty impressive. Yeah, it's pretty cool.
00:23:09
Speaker
Well, I mean, that would certainly stand out. Yeah, a lot of it is metallic, you know. Yeah, because red's not generally used in in sort of licensed branded packaging. Yeah, it looks really, really sharp.
00:23:20
Speaker
ah That's really cool. Yeah, so you just reminded me of that. Yeah, totally.
Shifts in Toy Industry Trends
00:23:25
Speaker
I think that the sad thing is that, you know, the toy business itself has changed so drastically. i guess it's, well, you know what it's like, like the change came for girls when Spice Girls came along and girls dropped toys like almost overnight. Right.
00:23:42
Speaker
And the more and more video games became the preferred choice, you know, toys for boys over the age of five just weren't needed anymore. No, you know, so it was really it was really going to say shocking.
00:23:55
Speaker
Maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but it kind of was was to me as an adult collector. I'm like, where are the action figures at? Right. Well, and also to think about the the whole Pokemon thing where all a sudden toys were an inch tall.
00:24:10
Speaker
Yeah. Right. We went from Power Rangers, which had like nine inch figures and, you know, play sets were getting bigger and bigger. But then Pokemon came along and everything was now an inch tall.
00:24:23
Speaker
And quote unquote affordable. Yeah. An inch tall, but still $9.99. But yeah, that's a good point too, because the, what do they call that? Trading card? No, what game gaming? What do you call that industry? ah Collectible card game. Collectible card games. Yeah. yeah That became Yeah.
00:24:41
Speaker
right massive another reason for kids to drop toys and just gravitate to that right yeah that's good point yeah there was many years where um all we all we were selling was pokemon cards yeah right it was just huge and i never expected that to last and it seems to i don't know if it ever really slowed down but like it's obviously still going strong Yeah, it's huge. yeah It's still huge. like and it's it's Kids are playing them. Kids are collecting them. They're still just buying them.
00:25:12
Speaker
i don't even know what season you know the Pokemon cards are on. 400. Yeah, seriously. did you Did you ever see that piachho Detective Pikachu movie? No, I never did see it.
00:25:23
Speaker
I never did either. I heard somebody say that it was it was okay, but I never did see it. All right, listeners, that's your homework. Go check out the movie and then let me know. Was it thumbs up or thumbs down?
00:25:36
Speaker
you remember remember when we went to see the first Pokemon movie with Mike Milley at the backstage? Do you remember that? Yes. That tiny theater. Wow. It's Pokemon on the big screen. It's huge. Our biggest TV was probably what? 20 inches. Oh my gosh. So funny.
00:25:54
Speaker
Yeah. So think about it. That was before cell phones. That was before flat screen TVs. Yeah. ah the internet was still new. But yeah, like Pokemon was nuts.
00:26:07
Speaker
But I was in Walmart today, and it's still it's still a mix. like There's still a lot of action figures, still a lot of boys' toys, still a lot of girls' toys.
00:26:19
Speaker
um And I don't know if Amazon has sort of taken over everything, because i got i actually don't know if that's the case. I don't know if TV...
00:26:30
Speaker
Like, do we have things like YTV anymore for kids to see toy commercials? So they must be seeing toy commercials like on YouTube or social. Yeah, i think that would be it. Right? Yeah. So I'm sure for a parents, it's a dream.
00:26:43
Speaker
You just buy it off your phone and you're done. Yeah. you know And I'm amazed at how many parents don't like taking their kids to Toys R Us or don't like their kids knowing Toys R Us exists. You know, it's like, oh, gosh. Would you? Like, seriously? Yeah.
00:26:59
Speaker
like jokingly everything yeah but you know the same time you had your kids for a reason didn't you but um supply toys yeah yeah remember how people would dump their kids at toys or us oh yes like just crazy and that would probably still happen today yeah oh yeah yeah and no i was always like gathering up kids and saying hi where's your parents oh they went next door you went to work okay So yeah I wouldn't have known that Thornhill was closed if you hadn't posted it
00:27:31
Speaker
So like Toys R Us Canada is still going. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah, Toys R Us Canada is still around, um but they're hitting hard times right now. yeah They are closing stores that's all across Canada.
00:27:43
Speaker
yeah um i've I've read about a number of stores closing. I knew that um i knew that Thornhill was one of the that was closing. I just hadn't seen yet. That's a one.
00:27:54
Speaker
That means people in that area aren't having kids. yeah no and or they're not shopping there or and even that walmart in that area is gone so i don't know where people are shopping unless there was one there unless they're going up to richmond hill that one's gone which but yeah yeah the toys rs is gone the walmart's still there though isn't it yeah the one that went in where sam's club was yeah yeah that one oh yeah yeah yeah that was that big one yeah yeah that one at jane and seven and pitch black i don't understand that store you walk in and it's like the lights are off It's very weird, very weird shopping experience. I was ah i was looking at Wikipedia about Toys R Us Canada.
00:28:31
Speaker
So Toys R Us Canada was was saved from the U.S. collapse when they were sold off to... um To a company that basically just chopped them up and sold them off for land.
00:28:44
Speaker
So the Canadian division was separated, sold to another group, and then they sold it again to Doug Putnam, the guy that owned Sunrise and HMV um and a couple
Toys R Us Canada's Challenges
00:28:58
Speaker
other businesses. FYE.
00:29:00
Speaker
Yeah. And that rooms, rooms. but he's got Yeah. Sort of a storage. He was actually planning on doing some stuff in the Toys R Us stores. He did do record stores like HMVs in Toys R Us. Yeah.
00:29:12
Speaker
I don't know how successful that was. it was a mess if you wanted to browse for something. When I was in the Markville Mall store, unfortunately, it was the store was almost completely closed already. That was another one that's going.
00:29:24
Speaker
um And their their music section was still those sort of cardboard, you know, pasteboard kind of boxes. And all the records kept sliding out the front and smacking on the floor. And i'm like, ah, come on. Like, seriously.
00:29:39
Speaker
But to apparently there's only 53 stores left out of 82 people. Oh, well, that's a healthy amount. So, yeah. So if if they can, you know, if they can, you know, tighten the business and sort of realign it. So I went to the new Scarborough business, like the new Scarborough store, and it just seemed empty.
00:30:00
Speaker
Like there was nothing in there. And there was basically signs taped all over the store saying the collectibles are final sale. So that means that they were kind of getting out of that business too.
00:30:11
Speaker
A little bit of Babies R Us, a little bit of... you know, core toys. That's a good point. Like babies are, I should have kept everything going to lot of competition though, especially in Canada. Keep going. Uh, what do you mean? know No, no. Dufferin mall was gone. Oh, seriously. Yeah. They shut Dufferin.
00:30:32
Speaker
Oh, sorry. No, I'm thinking the other one. Dufferin is still there. Yes. Okay. Yeah. that Don Mills is still around. Dufferin is still there. Okay. Sorry. I was thinking of a Cedarbury for some reason. Oh,
00:30:43
Speaker
Yeah, I wouldn't know where to go now for Toys R Us. So if Don Mills is still there, then okay, that's my answer. Yeah, that's probably the the the most central one for us. But yeah, 53 locations. So at least 30 locations of clothes. And that that tells you right there. i mean, they they survived for a number of years as an independent, but the toy business is changing so drastically.
00:31:07
Speaker
Yeah. Right? People just, there's no core... toys and even licensing is not doing the job that it used to do. it's It's strange because in the collector's world, it seems like business as usual, you know, but, you know, I guess they're niche companies making niche products, you know. Yeah.
00:31:29
Speaker
And there's also that that sort of stigma that a collector is like, well, I'm not going to go to Toys R Us for my stuff. I'm going to go to comic store. right like yeah but Yeah. Why would they have it?
00:31:40
Speaker
And they're probably right. In a lot of cases, they wouldn't have had it. Although Walmart is... really good with the mcfarlane stuff i don't collect it but like they're really good at having wave after wave i so i'm like well you know and i noticed today know i noticed last week although i was there today uh they are they're carrying the neca figures like the neca horror figures so i'm like okay okay that's interesting coming from somewhere that they want to do that so I think the other big hit that the toy business um suffered was the loss of physical media for video games.
Impact of Digital Media on Toy Sales
00:32:18
Speaker
Because if you think back, um especially back when I was with Toys R Us in the 90s, the R-Zone was everything. The R-Zone was a massive chunk of sales.
00:32:30
Speaker
Not a lot of profitability because there was no money to be made. And systems were always sold at a loss. And people don't realize that. They're like, you know, if we paid $200 for a you know a PlayStation, it cost us $250.
00:32:46
Speaker
But we were hoping that we'd get extra controllers and games out of that because there was a lot of profit in the games. That business just disappeared.
00:32:57
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good point because now there's another reason to not come in at all. ex Exactly. Like what about Lego? Like Lego is so huge now, but then I guess you can buy that online too. Yeah.
00:33:08
Speaker
And you can buy Lego anywhere. You can buy Lego on Amazon and you can buy it right from, from Lego and you can get it, you know, at at Walmart as well. ah the Lego stores still around? Yep. Lego stores are still around as well. And they're they're going to attract their own audience as well. Oh, yeah.
00:33:23
Speaker
Yeah. um What was I going to just say? I saw somewhere where they're like, hey, oh, no, I was i was at Wheels and Wings, the model kit store. And they had signs up saying, hey, we can now sell Lego. And they've filled their window with Lego. And they've the first you know eight feet of their model kit section is now Lego.
00:33:44
Speaker
So Lego's easy to get. Yeah. Like I would think that's a bit of a gamble, you know what I mean? Only because maybe just, you know, stick to what you do best, but yeah you know, unless, unless Lego says here, take this, you know, pre-pack that's nothing but hits, you know what I mean? And you won't be sitting on this for months. You know, I would think like, Ooh gosh, do you really want to give up that important floor space to something that's already at Walmart, Amazon and so forth? Yeah.
00:34:16
Speaker
I think too, though, somebody, you know, something like a model kit store, if you're going to be, a you know, bring in some of that stuff, there's enough of that sort of collector collectability stuff that you could just pick from that. They're not going to pick every single little, you know, little kids Lego set, but a lot of what they had were the botanicals.
00:34:37
Speaker
And so those are sort of an adult collector sets. Did Toys R Us sell that like World of Warcraft stuff, or was that not there? I'm not even saying that, right? like That was pretty huge.
00:34:52
Speaker
like Like the gaming, the gaming table. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah No, that's, that never really got to mainstream at all. Cause it was far too specific, but that was, that's what you went to games workshop
Demographics and Toy Industry Strategies
00:35:05
Speaker
for. Yeah. Yeah. thats I loved going in there because I, I just such a dreamer. I wanted to be like a tabletop gamer. I just, you can't play it by yourself or can you,
00:35:16
Speaker
i Apparently everybody thought I was weird for playing it by myself, but anyways. And being over 20. Exactly. Well, no, I think you have to be over 20. I think 40 is probably the prime age for tabletop gaming. That's funny. But so I probably made some enemies now and I've got, maybe some people will respond and yell at me.
00:35:37
Speaker
Oh man. get in line. Yeah, totally. So lots lots of changes. um you know Even like we said, Babies R Us didn't save the Toys R Us business either. yeah And while I was still at Toys R Us, one of the big things was renovating the stores for more Babies R Us space because that was critical. But then at the same time, we were getting reports that births were down.
00:36:04
Speaker
And people were not having as many kids. Young people were prioritizing, you know, careers and travel and education and not necessarily just saying, Hey, I'm out of high school, let's get married and have kids. Right. And that changes things, you know, when, when that, that birth rate goes down.
00:36:22
Speaker
yeah you know that's that's a trend and it's hard to react to that yeah right like the last i don't really buy toys anymore but i did buy the first wave of scooby-doo figures a couple of weeks ago and they came from amazon in the states yeah so even though amazon canada weren't selling them you know i got them from amazon.com i could have gotten them from entertainment earth or big bad toy store any of those american chains but i bought them off amazon and got them in a couple of days so Yeah.
00:36:51
Speaker
So there you go. It would have been more fun to go to a store and buy them Absolutely. You know, but the the amazing thing was, is they came bubble wrapped from amazon.com. And I'm like, wow. Normally you just throw everything in a box.
00:37:05
Speaker
Cause I was so excited when they shipped. and then I started to think, oh gosh, why did I buy from them? you know what mean? And they came beautifully. So it's like, okay, I'm not sure how that happened, but it did.
00:37:17
Speaker
yeah. are there any Are there any sort of independent stores that you still shop at or still check out every once while? In the Toronto area? My comic store doesn't really carry toys. So I would say no. I would say anything I get to see, I see at Walmart.
00:37:38
Speaker
And I don't even know. Like, I'm not in Canadian Tire enough to see what they have. And I'm never in malls. Like, is Toys Toys Toys still around? No, they're gone too. Okay, all right. Yep.
00:37:52
Speaker
um I noticed like people have Funko stores now, like yeah independent stores that you know are trying and good for them. you know um But yeah, no, I would say no because I'm i'm pretty much out of the hobby. you know um yeah I've got my my eye on it, but it's so rare that something comes out you know that I'm going to, and I'm actually grateful for that, but you know it's so rare that something comes out that I actually need to purchase.
00:38:20
Speaker
But for all like this past San Diego Comic-Con where just people freaking out over all those turtles and all the heat here after year after year.
00:38:31
Speaker
I'm like, okay. Oh, Ghostbusters. Like it's all out there. Yeah. You know, in America, like I would say, even though they don't have Toys R Us anymore, they seem to be doing really well with collectors.
00:38:42
Speaker
Yeah, that's good. Yeah. i am I discovered that they're they're not close, but there's there's two stores. They're called Noble Toys. like One's called Noble Toys, one's called Noble Toys Jr. And they're up in the Nobleton area, which is...
00:39:02
Speaker
above Bolton. So it's a bit of a drive, but my work takes me up there every once in a while. So I was able to go and check them out and they're decent. They've got a lot of stuff, like a lot of Funko, like the first front half of their store is Funko, but then they've got sort of a cool vintage section where they've got a bunch of like super You know, vintage toys, a lot of Star Wars. The last time was there, they had some Power Rangers.
00:39:30
Speaker
um And then at the back of their store, they have a mix of things. They've got some used toys and they've got like lots of board games and then some more collectibles. um But really cool. like yeah Both stores are really cool. When I went into, they moved Noble Toys Jr. So it's a little bit closer to town.
00:39:48
Speaker
And I went in and they had somebody who was selling off like a collection of Tonka trucks. And I picked up a Tonka truck for a few bucks, which was awesome. but oh yeah that's it when i think of playtime i think of i had a remote control flintstone car that came from there nice i had my first gotcha man model kit came from there oh And that was my first time seeing that Tonka Winnebago. And you know what I mean. Totally. Everyone knows. You know, and just sitting there because, you know, you're so small at that age, right? It's just that beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Winnebago. I never got one.
00:40:35
Speaker
Nope. But it's just, you know, those little memories. There was a place in Oshawa called Peter Pan Toys, I think, in the mall. And, you know, like I was always on my own, you know, walking around.
00:40:50
Speaker
And i could see as I'm approaching, they have like a huge, like I'm talking huge, not just because I was small, um selection of Mego eight inch hero figures.
00:41:02
Speaker
As I'm getting closer and closer, I'm freaking out. Cause I'm like, Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. And I took one step in and the guy's like, where are your parents? like well they're not with me you can't be in here i'm like oh so i have millions of dollars yeah yeah i never got to see all those beautiful eight inch mego hero figures back in the day like they were so close all the ones that were they were the boxed ones not the carded one all like do dooooooooo across i'm like oh and i remember it like yesterday but i never got to see
00:41:34
Speaker
ah What's his name? Let's go find him. That's right. If he's listening right now, how dare you? He didn't look like a very happy man. ah I'm picturing the comic book guy from Simpsons. Oh, yeah. No, no. Picture. Well, I won't say, but yeah.
00:41:51
Speaker
Far, far, far more grim. Oh, it's scary. He should have called his toy store, Grimm's toy store, but anyway. And it wasn't? No.
00:42:03
Speaker
Well, that's awesome. Hey, listeners, if you've got Toys R Us or favorite toy store stories, by all means, we want to hear them. You can go to SpeakPipe and check that out.
00:42:14
Speaker
Send me a message or just you know go type something into Instagram or something. But before we go, i got two things. One is I've actually had a request from a listener, so I have to follow through on this this request.
00:42:28
Speaker
Is it from Jeffrey? No, unfortunately wasn't Jeffrey. Jeffrey, if you're listening, we will also take your request. Please reach out. You know me. We've worked together many times. And his whole family. Totally. Totally did. like the new Jeffrey, the one where his eyes were on the one side of his head. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So awesome.
00:42:50
Speaker
So just quickly, I know it's not related, but I will tell the story so I can tell our listener that it has happened. um The listener wanted to know the the John Ritter story.
00:43:02
Speaker
so I'm going to tell it really quickly because I couldn't remember where we talked about it last. But anyways, I was working at Roots in Vancouver on Robson Street. If you know all those things, it's a great place. Hustle and bustle.
00:43:13
Speaker
All the movie stars that went to Vancouver shopped on Robson Street. heat That was the place to go. was working one night. And John Ritter came running into the store and he kind of ran to the back and then he kind of turned around and he was really flustered. And he basically said to me, you have some place that I can just sit and just relax for a few minutes? I'm like, absolutely go sit in my office. So open the door, let him sit down. We brought him some water. was, you know, he's just like, yeah, I was just being chased down the street.
00:43:41
Speaker
um Some people were harassing me and and shouting things at me. He's like, it just got little flustered. And we're like, No problem. Just relax. We'll sell you some shoes while you're here. No, I didn't sell him any shoes.
00:43:52
Speaker
But yeah, that was a John Ritter story. it's It's really not quite that exciting, but it was pretty cool. That was how I met John Ritter. It's a cool story because you were able to literally help somebody in distress.
00:44:03
Speaker
Yep. You know? Yeah, when normally I was just helping them like buy shoes for their famous husbands. But we already talked about that too, so you'll have to go back and find that. So there you go, listener.
00:44:15
Speaker
Thank you for for posing the question. I'm always glad to reach back in and tell you the stories. But yeah, that was my John Ritter story. We saved him. I think he wanted the other John Ritter story. You know what I'm talking about?
00:44:29
Speaker
No. if you're If you're the kind of person like me who feels guilty about everything all the time around the clock, when Josh and I lived together years ago, I went banging on his bedroom door yeah that went way early in the morning. Not early to me, but it would be very early for him.
00:44:46
Speaker
you know And I don't even think he woke up, so i open the door and I go in and I'm like, John Ritter died. Oh my God. So is that the John Ritter story? Who knows? So listener, you've got two John Ritter stories. That's right. That's right. One where I'm woken up in the middle of the night. Yeah.
00:45:03
Speaker
I just thought you needed to know. It was so important because, you know, I was probably sitting in bed watching Three's Company anyways. That's so funny. You were definitely asleep. like jo Josh, Josh, Josh.
00:45:17
Speaker
Anyway, sorry. Oh my God. That's awesome. All right. So one last thing I'm going to do is I'm going to ask you some true or false questions about Toys R Us. False. ah Okay. So you got the first one right. Way to go. Let's hear that clapping.
00:45:34
Speaker
I can't hear. Where's my clapping?
00:45:37
Speaker
No, that's not it. that's that That tells you that we're going to ask some questions. So here we go. All right. Here we go. ah Yeah. I can't find all my stuff. i don't remember the name of Jeffrey's kid. Okay.
00:45:49
Speaker
I don't remember either. I don't remember either. Okay. So here's the first question. ah Do you remember the name of the founder of Toys R Us? No, I probably never even knew it. I said it a million times for 15 years, so... Oh, that's so funny. Well, then I might recognize it.
00:46:06
Speaker
Charles Lazarus. ah That's a spooky last name, isn't it? Isn't it weird, though? And people used to make up these tales about how Toys R Us is named because his name was Lazarus, and like, no, apparently that's not true, so...
00:46:21
Speaker
Yeah, Charles Lazarus, he opened it um way back, way back, way, way, way back. What was ah what the first stuff you saw? That wasn't a true or false. Sorry, and go ahead. Oh, sorry. Didn't they say true or false?
00:46:33
Speaker
Yeah, think so. Oh, no, I i just screwed that up. That's what I do sometimes. I just kind of like tell you one thing and then do something completely different because that's what I am. True. Okay, true or false?
00:46:45
Speaker
ah Charles Lazarus sold baby furniture until he realized toys would make more money. Oh, he'd be wrong about that. So let's say it's true. It is true. Yeah, apparently that's what he's doing. But so I think that when um when we used to watch the videos, the training videos, it was that he had a bike store. But I think what it was is he was he had a baby furniture store and he brought in some bikes and people were very excited.
00:47:13
Speaker
So he started bringing in more toys to the store. Well, that way the customer is growing in the store. Yes. And that was the idea. I'm not just thinking after you and baby and then goodbye, right All this talk of toy stores makes me think of Driscoll's Toy Store. The horrors of shopping at Driscoll's.
00:47:35
Speaker
Does it okay listeners? Do you remember where Driscoll's what show Driscoll's was from? i not going to tell you you have to guess. um I loved on TV like those old vintage shows and movies from like the 30s and 40s. I love when they go to the toy store.
00:47:50
Speaker
um I just love ah all the toys are just loose. Yep. Like here's a stuffed cat. Yeah. Here's a rocking horse. Here's a horse hit on a stick. Here's a baseball bat. Yeah.
00:48:02
Speaker
Here's a car. And train set. And a truck. Yeah.
Toys R Us Quiz and Trivia
00:48:05
Speaker
And nothing was in a box. Nothing was branded. It was just a loose toy just on display. And you just walked in and said, I'll take that. And they said, 35 cents.
00:48:14
Speaker
And then they would wrap it up for you and put it in the bag. yeah yeah Provided this the the price tag hadn't fallen off. Oh, yes. Well, they would usually you take that off, you know, because they wouldn't want your youre kids to know that you paid 35 cents on that.
00:48:30
Speaker
True or false, Toys R Us was given the nickname Category Killer. That sounds familiar, but don't remember the context.
00:48:41
Speaker
And I don't know if it was actually Toys R Us. I'm going to say true only because I remember the i remember the term. Yeah, absolutely. um Wait a second. There you go. Let's go make this new gift. Category killer was the first used to describe their big box format because they went in with killer prices, inventory that nobody else could carry. Like department stores could not carry the depth or the breadth of toy business. So yeah, they were category killer. They made it hard for everybody else to...
00:49:16
Speaker
to keep up um one last one true or false jeffrey the giraffe's original name was dr g raff oh ouch that's so corny i'll just say it's true yeah isn't that weird don't even think i knew that Yeah, that's a weird one.
00:49:37
Speaker
Like, no, it's weird. I see Jeffrey and Gina and little G. Yeah, that's their names that's her name. That came back to me all of a sudden. yeah I'm looking at this picture.
00:49:48
Speaker
ah think it's a carpet, but I can't remember. Yeah, I can't remember what it was. But yeah, so that that's some stuff about Toys R Us. I'd be sad if they if they went.
00:50:00
Speaker
um Oh, yeah. You know, ah because I just think that kids need toys. And I think that kids kids get a lot of out of that sort of growing up and playing with things and using
Importance of Toy Stores for Child Development
00:50:12
Speaker
imagination. And it's not always about, you know, crushing candy on your phone.
00:50:17
Speaker
And you know what it's like to like with the adults, you know, seeing something on your screen isn't the same as seeing it in person. It's not. So we take a little kid to the store they might be like, oh I actually like that, not that, you know, and then the kid gets to develop those skills and so forth, you know. Yeah, absolutely.
00:50:36
Speaker
my my favorite My favorite experience always when I was in the toy business is when grandmothers would come in and say, I need a kitchen and a broom for my grandson because he just loves cleaning. And i'm like, that is so awesome.
00:50:49
Speaker
That is so cool. That's so funny. And those those kind of grandmas were the best because they were like, I don't care. That's what he wants. Let him, you know, he can have it. And I, cause I loved playing with kitchens and stuff when I was kid. hear you. Grandparents would be a little more open-minded than maybe the actual parents.
00:51:06
Speaker
And parents are like, what the hell is this? And then they can get yeah angry at grandma later. Don't worry. The kitchen's not pink. They made brown kitchens too. Yes, that's right. It was the nineties. Well, that's awesome. Thanks for us thanks for sharing that that memory trip with
Closing Remarks and Social Media Engagement
00:51:20
Speaker
me.
00:51:20
Speaker
um i i just want to say, listeners, we're so happy to have you. Don't forget to keep subscribing and check out our social media. Speakpipe is listed everywhere, but it's speakpipe slash Gen X for Life podcast. And you can leave me a message, a real live voice message, and we'll play it on the air and and so try to answer your question because that's the whole fun of it.
00:51:46
Speaker
Keep an eye on my social media for things that to do. I've got some live things coming up. I just finished coming back from ah Fan Expo. had a great time. Met some of my listeners there.
00:51:58
Speaker
Fantastic. Love to see you. um And thank you so much for supporting. And we will see you on Saturday morning. You've been listening to Yabba Zonker Zoinks, a Gen X for Life podcast.
00:52:11
Speaker
Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any exciting episodes. You can reach out on Instagram at Gen X for Life podcast. That's Gen X number four life underscore podcast or send an email at Gen X for Life podcast, all one word, at gmail.com.
00:52:28
Speaker
I'd love to hear about your favorite Gen X Saturday morning memory, maybe a favorite toy or the cereal you just couldn't wait to tear into. Until then, have a Yabba Zonker Zoinks day, and I'll be back bright and early next Saturday morning.