4 ms·
What a trip. I used to go to the Times Square location with people who came in from out of town, as an attraction for when they inevitably wanted to check out
by wgerard 8y ago
What a trip.
I used to go to the Times Square location with people who came in from out of town, as an attraction for when they inevitably wanted to check out Times Square. The article doesn't really do justice to what a spectacle it was (which is saying something, since the article calls it out repeatedly). The person-sized Lego Hulk they built for that store is still my phone background.
Made this even more shocking to read, since it was always packed:
> In late 2001, Eyler oversaw the opening of a flagship store in New York’s Times Square, with a 60-foot Ferris wheel, a life-size Tyrannosaurus rex, and a Barbie dollhouse bigger than many Manhattan apartments. Eyler promised that 20 million people a year would visit, and maybe they did, but the store never made money.
Of course, thinking back on it, I went several times but rarely bought anything from the store.
Maybe that's the (21st century) story of Toys "R" Us, summarized into a sentence.
- beedogunami 8y agoIdono, I think my sentence would be 'vulture capitalism takes another scalp.'
- walru 8y agoFlagship stores are a form of advertising. Many many retailers embark on this journey. Does advertising work? Or, more importantly, which is the case here, does selling your store shelves to specific brands hurt? (rather than stocking what's selling?) Some youtubers have done in length videos on Star Wars toys that sat on shelves for years.
- 0xcafecafe 8y agoYes, visiting the times square location always used to be the highlight of my NYC visit. It reminded me of the toy store showed in home alone 2 (which I watched a lot growing up). Another one which I will miss is the FAO Schwarz store in NYC (which was also owned by Toys R Us). I feel sad thinking that my son will never experience that joy of going to these huge Toy stores. At best, his experience will be limited to the kids section at Target/Walmart (if they are still around by the time he is old enough to visit them).
- autarch 8y agoThe toy store in Home Alone 2 was based on FAO Schwarz. I remember going to it as a kid a few times. It was very cool and a big NYC attraction for families. But I don't remember if we ever bought anything there.
- bunderbunder 8y agoI'm not sure it's terribly surprising, though. That Times Square location was mostly for tourists. Tourists, having come by plane, are probably not going to be terribly inclined to buy anything other than fairly small items. Nothing that would be a bother to try and pack home on an airplane.