Can you believe Toys R Us is kicking the bucket?!
That’s right. The toy giant is officially going out of business, being replaced by the more efficient and convenient Amazon. Here is a last little commemoration to a great childhood memory– and to the end of a lasting shopping era.
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Dear Toys R Us,
I vividly remember sitting in the backseat of the car as I spotted the bright, colorful, larger-than-life sign reading “Toys R Us.” I remember begging my father to stop at the store, saying, “Look, Papa! There it is! There it is!”
My Dad, himself unable to resist the urge of visiting the store, pulls off the road and into the mall parking lot, for he shares the same excitement as any child would. He has been to you many times before with my brother, and my second brother before that. He too amicably scours your shelves, all littered about with gadgets and gizmos of all sorts.
I always remember those first moments when I walk in through your sliding glass doors and encounter a great sprawl of toys across many walls. I see board games and skateboards, chess matches waiting to be played, giant play-cars that are just asking to be ridden!
Oh, but the best place of all was the Lego section. There you could re-enact any life you wished. You could become Han Solo, weaving your way in the Lego Millennium Falcon. You could be a cop, keeping our cities safe and catching criminals. You could become a bionic warrior, fending off the universe from darkness.
There is one memory, I remember most clearly; I was in the Lego section and held in my hands a box of Lego that rumbled when you shook it. It was a set to build a pirate ship, a ship to sail the Seven Seas! I remember the smiling maiden and the swashbuckler with a sword readily in hand on the front of the box. Of course, this was for looks only; Papa never came here with intention to buy, only to look! With a heavy hand on my shoulder, I understood it was time to head home. I set the box down, and with one last look over my shoulder, I head back to the car.
As the automatic glass doors once again close behind me, I leave the store feeling overall satisfied. I look up and see your sign again. Its colors ring as if to say, “We’ll miss you! Come back again!” It brings a smile to my face…
Dear Toys R Us, the world is changing. Time is above all most important these days. And as such, your policy of letting the customer slowly bask in the warmth of your store no longer cuts it. Amazon is the new go-to. No more need to hold and feel the object. No more going to the store. You look, you buy. Done.
This is to no fault of your own, Toys R Us. We are always rushing, rushing, going from place to place. And where your commercial empire is now collapsing, amongst the dusty ruins of physical shopping, a new empire rises, a new bastion; the mighty electronic market, where people no longer come to get goods– the goods come to the people.
You should be proud of that, Toys R Us. You were one of the last great physical shopping experiences any child, let alone adult, could have. You have made so many children’s memories. It pains me to know that soon you won’t make any more.
You will be missed, Toys R Us.
Love, Anthony Myrlados.
The Enlightenment 
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