Sad News: Toys ‘R’ Us Is Reportedly Closing All Its U.S. Stores

Sad news for our collective childhoods: Toys ‘R’ Us will reportedly be closing all 800 of its U.S. locations.

The news came Wednesday evening that all stores, including Babies ‘R’ Us, will be sold or shuttered, a source told The Washington Post. The retailer filed for bankruptcy back in September 2017, and publicly announced this week that all 100 stores in the UK would be closing. The source said that the company told employees that closures would likely occur over time, and not all at once.

There is some hope, though: The Post reported that a group of toymakers submitted a bid to buy the Canadian Toys ‘R’ Us locations (totaling 82 stores) and is looking into buying up to 400 of the U.S. locations which would continue to operate under the Toys ‘R’ Us name.

The first Toys ‘R’ Us opened in 1957, but founder Charles Lazarus first opened a baby furniture store called Children’s Bargain Town in 1948. Kids ‘R’ Us, the clothing store, was born in 1983—and had two decades before all 146 stores were closed in 2003.

The in-person toy experience isn’t totally dead just yet; FAO Schwarz may have shuttered its famed NYC location in 2015, but it was announced in December that the retailer is renting at Rockefeller Center, and is set to open in Fall 2018.