Company Founded
Toys "R" Us founder Charles Lazarus opens Children's Bargain Town, a baby furniture store, in Washington, D.C.
First Toys "R" Us
First Toys "R" Us store is opened.
(Shutterstock)Geoffrey Born
Geoffrey the giraffe becomes the company's mascot. He appears in his first TV ad in 1973. The company sells stuffed animals, Lego sets and figurines in Geoffrey's likeness.
A woman pushes a shopping cart over a graphic of Toys "R" Us mascot Geoffrey the giraffe in Raritan, N.J., July 31, 1996. (AP Photo/Daniel Hulshizer) Going Public
Toys "R" Us becomes a public company.
Rajib Ghosh looks at a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers power gun/sword at Toy "R" Us in New York, Nov. 16, 1993. (AP Photo/Garth Vaughan)Kids "R" Us
Kids "R" Us opens, selling children's clothing. It had a 20-year run before all 146 stores were closed in 2003.
Cornelia Jastrebski leaves a Kids ''R" Us store in Lawrenceville, N.J., Monday, Jan. 28, 2002. (AP Photo/Brian Branch-Price) Babies "R" Us
Babies "R" Us is born, selling diapers, cribs and car seats. There were more than 200 Babies "R" Us stores as of 2017.
A woman carrying a child walks towards the Babies "R" Us store in North Brunswick, N.J., Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2004. (AP Photo/Daniel Hulshizer)Going Online
The ToysRUs.com website is launched.
(ToysRUs.com) Company Buyout
The company is bought by three private equity firms and taken private.
Pedestrians walk under the electronic billboard of the Toys R Us store in New York's Times Square, Thursday, June 23, 2005. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) FAO Schwarz Purchase
Toys "R" Us buys well-known New York toy store FAO Schwarz. It closes the store in 2015 and sells the brand a year later.
Shoppers are seen outside of FAO Schwarz in New York on Nov 21, 2011.(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) Flagship Shut Down
Toys "R" Us closes its flagship store in New York's Times Square, which had a 60-foot Ferris wheel, after 14 years.
Customers shop and ride the ferris wheel at Toys "R" Us in New York's Times Square on June 6, 2005. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) Store Liquidation
Toys "R" Us announced a plan to liquidate its inventory and shutter all 735 stores in the U.S. It's already shuttering its business in the United Kingdom.
A branch of Toys R Us at St Andrews retail park in Birmingham, England, displays a closing down sale banner on Feb. 27, 2018.