Melissa Irvine
Management 311
Individual Paper 1
2-24-10
Toys “R” Us
Toys “R” Us is the Fortune 500 company I chose to research. Toys ”R” Us is a toy store chain based out of the United States. Although it is ranked 192 out of the 500, it is still one of the most profitable toy stores in all of the world and I am a frequent consumer of all of its products. Their revenue for the 2009 year was $13,724.0 million and profits were 218 million (CNNMoney.com). The chain also has locations in Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and Canada. The company currently has 849 operating stores in the United States and 716 stores in 34 different countries. (Wikipedia.com) The stores are either under franchise or licenses. The flagship store located in New York City’s Time Square is the largest toy store in the world and it features a real working Ferris wheel. Toy “R” Us’s 3 main competitors include GameStop, Target and Wal-Mart stores which also rank on the Fortune 500.
Toys “R” Us was founded in 1948 by 25 year old Charles Lazarus in Washington, DC. It was his dream to run a child oriented business. Lazarus didn’t start out with toys though, he started out making baby furniture. He created Children’s Bargain town first to help cater to the post war baby boom era. The store was filled from top to bottom with baby furniture. Lazarus also did all the work himself, from overseeing the entire store to keeping the books and delivery. His store was very successful but the demand for toys for infants and toddlers began to grow. Many months went buy with consumers asking for toys before Lazarus began to sell them. The very first toy that was sold was the cradle gym. After that toy ended up being a good seller then he added more to the toy inventory. He added such things such as tricycles, books and other toys. It was soon after the business took on toys in their inventory that Charles realized that, unlike furniture, toys broke and fell out of fashion with children,...