![]() Shoppers flocked to his "cash-and-carry" stores, knowing that they would find a vast array of toys and almost every style of stroller or crib, in stock and at reasonable prices. It worked so well that by the early 1950s, Charles had made enough money to open a second store. But one customer told another, and all the word-of-mouth really worked for us." ![]() Here we were, located in the middle of Washington, DC-and customers had to go find parking, which was really hard to do. ![]() "We were probably the first ones selling toys and juvenile products at a discount. The combination of selection and pricing was an immediate success. Expanding his shop into an empty supermarket next door, he lined the shelves with box after box of toys, which he offered at discount prices. That's when he hit upon the idea of selling toys in a bigger environment. Sales rapidly increased, and Lazarus began searching for new and better ways to take advantage of the now booming toy market. Lazarus got the message and switched to selling mostly toys, an industry where there was little organized competition. Those who bought cribs or high chairs generally didn't return. Lazarus quickly realized that people who bought toys returned for more. It wasn't long before a customer came in to replace a doll her baby had smashed. Having none, he quickly added a few basic playthings to his stock. Early on, a woman asked him for some toys to go along with a crib she was buying. My instincts told me the timing was right." His instincts proved to be correct, and thanks to the postwar baby boom, Lazarus experienced several very good years.Īs he learned the ins and outs of running his first store, Lazarus began to realize that the key to his success lay in listening to his customers' needs and fulfilling them. But instead of selling bikes, I would sell cribs, carriages, strollers, high chairs.everything for the baby. "I had saved a few dollars in the service, so I decided that I would open a store in my father's bicycle-repair shop. "I came out of the service after the war, and everyone I talked to said they were going to go home, get married, have children and live the American dream," Lazarus explains. Ironically, what led Lazarus to pioneer the first one-stop-shopping supermarket for toys was a disgruntled mother and a broken doll.Īfter returning from World War II, Lazarus decided to go into business for himself, so he rented his father's former bicycle-repair shop on the ground floor of the house he was born and grew up in. And its founder, Charles Lazarus, has been called one of the few geniuses in the business. has been called one of the biggest success stories in retailing in the past 20 years. The first retailer to mass-merchandise toys at across-the-board discount prices, Toys "R" Us Inc. And that's just the way Charles Lazarus likes it. Mention the name Toys "R" Us, and children's faces immediately light up.
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