The 472 Domain Names That Couldn’t Stop The Inevitable Collapse of ‘Toys R Us’

NEW YORK, NY – Toys R Us is a brand we’ve all grown up with. The company was originally founded by Charles P. Lazarus (October 5, 1923 – March 22, 2018), the son of a local entrepreneur who wished to someday mimic his father’s work with his own enterprise. Those dreams became a reality in 1948 when young Charles, 25, opened his first children’s furniture store called “Children’s Bargain Town” in Washington, D.C.

After years of early success, Lazarus added toys and changed the name reorganising as the iconic “Toys “R” Us” name with its unique backwards “R” which Charles felt, humorously, would make it appear as though a child wrote it. By 1984, the business became a world-wide enterprise with stores in Canada, then Japan. True to its national and world-wide fame, the business was inducted into the Toy Industry’s Hall of Fame by 1990 being considered one of the most iconic brands in the world. By 1995 the business furthered its amazing success when founder Charles Lazarus received the National Retail Federation’s Gold Medal Award, the industry’s highest honor given only to outstanding industry leaders who have excelled and broken new ground in the field of retailing.

There should be no question as to the leading position “Toys ‘R’ Us” held in not only the retail business, but the significant leverage it had built in the marketing industry via the creation of its globally known brand. However, this did not create an impenetrable defense to what would be an entirely new world to conquer; the single biggest challenge the Toys R Us brand would ever face.  

Unfortunately, much like many other industry players, the Toy giant just could not compete with online retailers such as Amazon and discount stores such as Wal-Mart whom had far out-manoeuvred them by investing heavily in their online operations. As an example, you might remember when Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. spent $9M on Shoes.com. At that time, I hadn’t heard much of Toy’s R Us struggles until their Bankruptcy was filed. You may have read my piece titled “‘Toys R Us’ Should Shut Retail Operation, Rebrand as “Toys.com” Before Too Late”.

Nothing could probably have saved them anyway. I have to admit that I will miss this giant toy store chain as not only did I eagerly await my visits there as a child, but I created many smiles for my own children’s faces shopping there for holiday cheer and gifts for special days. It’s a good reminder that no matter how successful your business is at any given moment, a few bad decisions and possibly, taking a back seat to what your competition is up to, can put an end to all of it.

With that said, here is a list of domain names that were owned by Geoffrey, a subsidiary of Toys Delaware, the United States entity of the Toys “R” Us brand. Some of the names were considered “its “Primary U.S. Domain Names”, some were used for “U.S. E-commerce Sites” and some, according to bankruptcy proceeding documents, were admittedly registered “defensively”.

The domain names were scheduled to be auctioned off sometime last month, according to chatter on NamePros.com

John Colascione

About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of Searchen Networks Inc. and Internet Advertising Inc. He specializes in Website Monetization, authored a ‘how to’ book called ‘‘Mastering Your Website’, and is a key player in several Internet related businesses through his search engine strategy company Searchen Networks®