Toys 'R' Us founder dies the day the company begins liquidation sales

It's only been a week since Toys 'R' Us announced it would close all of its stores, but heartbreak has hit the shelves again. Toys 'R' Us founder Charles Lazarus died Thursday, the company confirmed. He was 94.

Former CEO Michael Goldstein took over the company from Lazarus in 1994, but told CNN Money that Lazarus' legacy as "the father of the toy business" lived on.

Lazarus got the idea for Toys 'R' Us as he returned from World War II, per USA Today. His friends were ready to start families, and he soon envisioned superstores stocked to the ceiling with toys. The company's name was a pun on Lazarus' last name, while the iconic backwards "R" mimicked a child's handwriting.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Toys 'R' Us thrived through the baby boom and hit its peak in the 1980s, per CNN Money, but the arrivals of Walmart and online behemoth Amazon eventually took their toll. Liquidation sales were scheduled to begin Thursday.