NEW YORK — The massive Toys R Us superstore in Times Square, which wowed shoppers with a 60-foot indoor Ferris wheel, a growling, 20-foot animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex and a life-size Barbie dollhouse, had its last shopping day Wednesday.
The closing ended a 14-year-run as a must-visit destination for any family willing to brave the big crowds. It followed the July closing of FAO Schwarz, the palace of expensive and unique toys romanticized in the 1988 film “Big.”
Shoppers and tourists came out Wednesday for a last look at the type of extravagance unavailable to shoppers online or at the local mall.
“It’s a one-in-a-million type of place,” said Janet Roman, of Berlin, Conn., as she gave her 9-year-old grand-nephew, Sherman Williams, his first — and last — tour of the over-the-top store.
Toys R Us opened in Times Square in 2001, when the neighborhood was still only a few years removed from its bad-old-days as a center for adult entertainment and grime. The company decided not to renew its lease, which expires in January, because of the high cost of renting the space, said company spokeswoman Elizabeth Gaerlan.
C. Bradley Mendelson, an agent for the building’s owner, Bow Tie Partners, said that at roughly $2,000 per square foot, rental prices for ground-floor space in the area have become extraordinarily expensive.
Gaerlan said the company is searching for another Manhattan flagship store and will try to find positions for those among the more than 350 employees of the store who want to keep working at Toys R Us.
