Toys 'R' Us Founder Charles Lazarus Has Died

The Toys "R" Us family has suffered another loss as founder Charles Lazarus has passed away at the age of 94. Just last week, the popular chain of stores announced that it was ending business operations in the United States.

Born on October 4th, Lazarus spent a lot of time in his father's bicycle shop growing up, demonstrating from an early age his business sense and regularly offering his input on how his father could expand his store's reach.

Following World War II, Lazarus was inspired by his uncle's child furniture store and opened his first business, Children's Bargain Town, in Washington, D.C. in April of 1948. Two years later, Lazarus began to carry an array of toys as a response to customers' requests. One of the biggest lessons Lazarus learned with the introduction of toys into his store is that, unlike children's furniture, children's toys would often break and need to be replaced. Additionally, toys would cycle through in popularity, forcing parents to regularly return to his establishment.

Two of the founder's core values with his business were recognizing customer demands and figuring out how to meet those desires. As parents regularly visited his store, he wanted to ensure they had a wide selection of options for their children, beginning his emphasis on toys over furniture.

Thanks to his success in carrying toys, Lazarus opened up his very first Toys "R" Us in 1957 and featured supermarket style shopping. The founder carried many different toys and offered shopping carts for customers to pick out their own items.

The founder maintained the CEO position of the company until 1994.

After months of rumors surrounding the dwindling sales at stores around the world, Toys "R" Us confirmed earlier this month that it would be closing down the 700 remaining stores across the country. A variety of factors contributed to the store's demise, from the shift away from physical toys to interest in video games among children to online shopping becoming the go-to method for parents in need of toys.

The company also claimed that lower birth rates in areas near official locations meant less need for toys or baby supplies as a reason for the declining business.

Our thoughts go out to Lazarus' family and friends in this difficult time.

[H/T CNN]