Commentary

Where have all the toy stores gone?

As Toys R Us shutters, and the Sears catalog collects dust in the archives of marketing, one wonders where the next generation of moms, dads, aunts, uncles, friends and colleagues will find that perfect toy for that next celebratory event.

Photo by iStock.com

March 28, 2018 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com

Way, way, way back in the day, yes when dinosaurs were roaming the earth, I was roaming Toys R Us on a weekly basis beginning with the day after Thanksgiving — which was not called Black Friday way, way, way back then. It was simply my first day off from work that I could use for Christmas shopping and not for a sick kid day.

If I couldn't get the day off I'd trek to Toys R Us that night, husband in tow, each of us pushing a wagon with a list in hand and the store's once colorful flyer, which was well inked with circles and stars indicating what we wanted to get for our little tribe of trouble.

It was magical to roam the aisles, play with the toys, reminiscence about the games we played as kids as a good number were still on the shelves.

Yes, Operation was around during the dinosaurs but sadly the large beauty doll head I kept screwed to the family dining room's table in my pre-teen years was long gone. I still miss playing hairdresser on that oversized blonde head despite the fact my younger brother had quickly done some of his own mercenary makeup work — her once bright cobalt blue pupils became diabolical red and light brown brows were now big slabs of black thanks to indelible marker. But then again, black eyebrows on a blonde did become a trend and still seems to be a trend. But let's not digress.

We'd come home after hours of browsing aisles, debating over which Lego set to get, trying to remember which one of our girls loved Polly Pocket and which one didn't. For the record, I hated Polly and all her tiny rubbber pieces though my vacuum repair guy loved Polly.

We'd spend the next hour or so stashing the gifts all around the house — which, after that first kid year I made note of where we hid our stash as that first toddler toy spree year we didn't find several gifts until Easter.

My parents didn't have any Toys R Us excursion to plan, but I vividly remember grabbing the Sears mammoth holiday catalog as soon as it arrived and spending hours, days actually, combing through pages and noting toys I wanted Santa to bring. It was wondrous — all those new clothes, dolls, games, instruments.

But, as I learned, as well all do as we grow up, it is better to give and those early kid Toys R Us expeditions were a highlight in the early family years. Knowing we had persevered in grabbing hot toys – some years hitting the store at 11 p.m. (when retailers began marking down products for those insane shoppers who'll trek out near midnight for a bargain) and collapsing into bed near 3 a.m. — was thrilling and fun in our role as Santa.

I feel a bit sorry for the millennial and Gen X generation now needing to find that perfect toy — the one that makes a kid literally squeal or fall over in mock-faint to illustrate their glee that Santa delivered on the list.

Walking those toy aisles was a great experience to go back in my lifetime, to recall how I always failed to get the wrench from the Operation guy's leg, how I've always loved playing Uno and remembering to grab another deck to play with the kids during holiday break.

One of the best wedding gifts we received was actually a game and not crystal or china or even cash. It was the game of backgammon. It was housed in a beauty of a case, thick mahogany wood that I treasured for nearly two decades and loved pulling out after dinner parties and on lazy Sunday winter afternoons and teaching the kids, one by one, how to play.

My children grew up just as the digital world of entertainment hit the horizon and were lucky enough to have played board games and card games and yard games pretty much into their pre-teen years.

I think when I get them all together I'll drag them out to the driveway and make us all decorate the pavement with colorful chalk designs, sketch out a Hopscotch board, and beat them at what was my favorite thing to play growing up as a kid – despite the threat of dinosaurs trying to crash the game.

I just hope I can find a bucket of colorful chalk somewhere.

About Judy Mottl

Judy Mottl is editor of Retail Customer Experience and Digital Signage Today. She has decades of experience as a reporter, writer and editor covering technology and business for top media including AOL, InformationWeek, InternetNews and Food Truck Operator.

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