Charles P. Lazarus, Toys ‘R’ Us Founder, Dies at 94
Along the way Mr. Lazarus’s company endeared itself to generations of children, with a lovable mascot in Geoffrey the Giraffe
and a hummable jingle — “I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us kid.’’
Toys “R” Us became a retailing powerhouse internationally with stores in Spain, Canada and Singapore.
He opened his first store dedicated exclusively to toys in 1957
and called it Toys “R” Us (though he turned the “R” around to face the other way to make it look like a child had written it).
By MICHAEL CORKERYMARCH 22, 2018
Charles P. Lazarus, who founded Toys “R” Us, the toy store chain
that for three decades captured the hearts of American consumers but that eventually faded and succumbed to bankruptcy, has died at 94.
It was a painful denouement for a company that Mr. Lazarus founded 70 years ago in Washington, D. C., and
that grew into a global toy seller with thousands of stores in locations stretching from the United Kingdom to Asia.
Mr. Lazarus’s death comes one week after Toys “R” Us announced that it would start liquidating its stores in the United States.
