3 ms·

Some of your opinion seems dependent on the economic or social class you lived in growing up. My memory of Toys 'R' Us is in reading the front/back of every sin

by jquery 7y ago

Some of your opinion seems dependent on the economic or social class you lived in growing up. My memory of Toys 'R' Us is in reading the front/back of every single "Seal of Nintendo" game available. As I kid I didn't know better options existed, and indeed probably did not exist where I grew up.

chrisseaton 7y ago
Maybe it’s regional then - everyone I know thought it was the worst kind of lazy retail and it was long overdue to take it out back with a shotgun.
- diminoten 7y ago
  A brand is a brand; the fact that you know what it is and you know what you're getting when you walk into the store is valuable, especially for Toys R Us who aren't actually making any of those toys they sell. Even if TRU has a bad association with the experience, no one is going to care where you got your Hot Wheels once you have them.
Jach 7y ago
It's bizarre to me that people have memories of Toys R Us related to video games as I've never thought of it as a place for such... As a kid all my game-browsing memories were in one of the big stores with an Electronics department, or most commonly the various rental stores and chains (popularly but not exclusively Blockbuster) or rental sections of grocery stores where I could not just look at them but also sometimes get to rent one. Blockbuster even had a reasonably priced deal at one point when I was older that I convinced my mom to get me where you could rent "unlimited" (limited to 2 or 3 at a time) games for a few months, that summer was great for my gaming habit. The only thing Toys R Us has ever been to my mind is "well the electronics department and toy department of [current store] doesn't have [thing], maybe Toys R Us does?" And that could be solved with a phone call, or now, the internet. Product discovery was from ads in parents' newspapers (I suppose some of them may have been Toys R Us ads and it's possible some of my Extreme Dinosaurs figures originated there before being wrapped by Santa) and rarely from wandering the aforementioned department aisles.
- awad 7y ago
  They were huge for me when it came to games. Another poster made a comment about the aisles dedicated to video games. You would pull out a paper slip and bring it to some off-to-the-side area where you would get your selection fulfilled by some back of the house magic. I can't remember if that was before or after checkout and I think they were all a bit different in how they did it but I seem to recall a long conveyer belt being involved. Later on, my local store cordoned off an area called "R Zone" which, on top of additional security, had everything out in the open as well as many kiosks and demo units. To me, Toys R Us and games go hand in hand.

by jquery 7y ago

chrisseaton 7y ago

Maybe it’s regional then - everyone I know thought it was the worst kind of lazy retail and it was long overdue to take it out back with a shotgun.

diminoten 7y ago
A brand is a brand; the fact that you know what it is and you know what you're getting when you walk into the store is valuable, especially for Toys R Us who aren't actually making any of those toys they sell. Even if TRU has a bad association with the experience, no one is going to care where you got your Hot Wheels once you have them.

Jach 7y ago

It's bizarre to me that people have memories of Toys R Us related to video games as I've never thought of it as a place for such... As a kid all my game-browsing memories were in one of the big stores with an Electronics department, or most commonly the various rental stores and chains (popularly but not exclusively Blockbuster) or rental sections of grocery stores where I could not just look at them but also sometimes get to rent one. Blockbuster even had a reasonably priced deal at one point when I was older that I convinced my mom to get me where you could rent "unlimited" (limited to 2 or 3 at a time) games for a few months, that summer was great for my gaming habit. The only thing Toys R Us has ever been to my mind is "well the electronics department and toy department of [current store] doesn't have [thing], maybe Toys R Us does?" And that could be solved with a phone call, or now, the internet. Product discovery was from ads in parents' newspapers (I suppose some of them may have been Toys R Us ads and it's possible some of my Extreme Dinosaurs figures originated there before being wrapped by Santa) and rarely from wandering the aforementioned department aisles.

awad 7y ago
They were huge for me when it came to games. Another poster made a comment about the aisles dedicated to video games. You would pull out a paper slip and bring it to some off-to-the-side area where you would get your selection fulfilled by some back of the house magic. I can't remember if that was before or after checkout and I think they were all a bit different in how they did it but I seem to recall a long conveyer belt being involved. Later on, my local store cordoned off an area called "R Zone" which, on top of additional security, had everything out in the open as well as many kiosks and demo units. To me, Toys R Us and games go hand in hand.