Toys "R" Us

Intro In April 1948, Charles P. Lazarus founded a baby-furniture retailer, Children's Supermart, in Washington, D.C. during the postwar baby boom;[9] the store's site at 2461 18th St NW later became Madam's Organ Blues Bar. The store was acquired in 1966 by Interstate Department Stores, Inc.The focus of the store changed in June 1957, and the first Toys "R" Us, dedicated exclusively to toys rather than furniture, was opened by Lazarus in Rockville, Maryland. Lazarus also designed and stylized the Toys "R" Us logo, which featured a backward "R" to give the impression that a child wrote it. The store chain grew successfully and built a brand which was recognizable to many children born from the 1960s to the 1990s, and it shared in the success of the birth of popular culture successes of action figures (Star Wars, G.I. Joe), dolls (Cabbage Patch Kids, Rainbow Brite), video games (Nintendo's Super Mario series and other co-developed names, original Sega Genesis stations and titles), and ultimately the co-branded FAO series, as the higher-end Schwarz stores folded.