The Energon Pub

I am working on updating the Toys "R" Us stores in the Sightings section this weekend. I wanted to see what the most common spelling of Toys "R" Us was, I usually spell it Toys R Us for the sake of simplicity. After a couple of Google searches, I came across the Wikpedia page for Toys "R" Us, which led me to a very detailed article about the history of Toys "R" Us, which surprisingly goes all the way back to the 40s. I had no idea and always thought TRU was started in the 70s. Just wanted to share the link with all of you since I found it so interesting.

http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/2/Toys-R-Us-Inc.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toys_%22R%22_Us

What makes the US of A one of the greatest environments for small business to thrive into something BIG!

Just like Ryan's business/hobby. Seibertron started small but now..........

Great article find Ryan!
Always interesting to read background info for a place we, collectively, have interacted as fans extensively over the years.
Am I correct in believing the article was written 2002-03?

Nice find, Ryan. Thanks!

Speaking of TRU history, anyone else really miss those orange rectangular price tags? Now we have no price tags, just those card things they put on rack/shelf.

I didn't realize there were so few TRU stores in the 80s. I wish I knew when the two in Maine opened, I remember getting Brawl and Blastoff from one of them when I was a kid (can't remember which one). To think they might have actually been new stores back then.

One of the two stores hasn't been updated outside since it was built. The Bangor store still has the same store sign, same square orange welcome sign, and same roof and vertical wall panels it has probably has since it was built. Only thing they really did was paint it. Here's a pic of it I captured from Google maps:


Meanwhile the Portland store got updated some time ago when the Babies R Us next door closed and everything go pushed into TRU. That's the entire store, not sure what the doors on the far right are for, it goes into the electronics department storage behind the registers.


Pretty big difference in store fronts, right?

Emerje

Emerje wrote:I didn't realize there were so few TRU stores in the 80s. I wish I knew when the two in Maine opened, I remember getting Brawl and Blastoff from one of them when I was a kid (can't remember which one). To think they might have actually been new stores back then.

One of the two stores hasn't been updated outside since it was built. The Bangor store still has the same store sign, same square orange welcome sign, and same roof and vertical wall panels it has probably has since it was built. Only thing they really did was paint it. Here's a pic of it I captured from Google maps:

TRU Bangor.JPG

Heh, I wish we still had one like that. I really wish we had one that was still in the 80's style on the inside.

Meanwhile the Portland store got updated some time ago when the Babies R[ Us next door closed and everything go pushed into TRU. That's the entire store, not sure what the doors on the far right are for, it goes into the electronics department storage behind the registers.

TRU Portland.JPG

Pretty big difference in store fronts, right?

Emerje

One of ours looks just like that. I don't like it.

Not those doors you ask about, though, ours every thing that far over is a Harbor Freight tools located there, after they killed off Kids R Us.

Optimum Supreme wrote:Not those doors you ask about, though, ours every thing that far over is a Harbor Freight tools located there, after they killed off Kids R Us.

This TRU has always been this size. To the right is the former Babies R Us which you can tell was built years later.

Not sure what it is now, it's been a bunch of different things. For a while it was an Office Depot., I think it's an athletics store or a shoe store or something right now.

Emerje