NEW YORK (AP) - For decades, children ran down the sprawling aisles of Toys R Us in awe of the Barbies, the bikes and other toys laid out in front of them. Parents lined up for the latest Christmas fad, even if it meant standing in the rain. And, of course, there was that jingle which bored into your brain: "I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid "
But all of that looks as if it's coming to an end.
Toys R Us is going out of business in the U.S., announcing plans Wednesday to close or sell its 735 stores across the country, including its Babies R Us stores, in a move jeopardizing more than 30,000 jobs.
The superstore chain could no longer bear the weight of its heavy debt load and relentless trends which hurt its business, namely competition from the likes of Amazon, discounters like Walmart, and mobile games.
At shopping centers around the country, the news was met with sadness and nostalgia.
"My first toy came from Toys R Us when I was young, and I had a Barbie Corvette that you could drive," recalled Raven Cornell, 29, at a Toys R Us in Fayetteville, Georgia.
Sidney Corum, 4, was with his grandfather at the same store when he heard the news.
"Mad. I go so angry. I fight. I will fight them," he said.
Plenty of other toy chains have gone out of business over the past few years, among them KB Toys and Zany Brainy. But with the likely demise of Toys R Us, a piece of Americana is going away. Toys R Us still has more than 700 stores outside the U.S., but those, too, are contracting fast.
Toys R Us traces its roots to 1948, when its founder, Charles Lazarus, opened Children's Bargain Town, a baby furniture store in Washington. Lazarus opened the first Toys R Us in 1957, and in 1965, Geoffrey the Giraffe became the company's mascot. He appeared in his first TV commercial in 1973.
Toys R Us dominated the toy store business in the 1980s and early '90s, when it was one of the first of the category killers - big stores totally devoted to one thing and have such impressive selection they drive smaller competitors out of business. Lazarus, who remained at the helm until 1994, stacked the merchandise high to give shoppers the feeling it had an infinite number of toys.
But it wasn't just the stuff that Toys R Us sold; it was the feeling parents and children would get when they roamed the aisles.
"You weren't just buying a toy. You were going into a magical experience. It was like going into Santa's workshop," Jim Silver, a longtime New York-based toy expert, said.
Over the decades, children used Toys R Us as a playground where they would meet others they wouldn't see in the schoolyard. In the 1990s, when Pokemon was hot, children would bring shoeboxes filled with the cards, and they would trade them in the store.
Toys R Us was also the launch pad for what became some of the industry's hottest toys, such as Zhu Zhu pets in 2008. Other retailers like Walmart wouldn't take such risks on new toys from little-known brands.
"It will be a little sad," Serone Francis, a mother of two who was loading her car at the Toys R Us in Fayetteville, said. She said her kids "like to just come and look around even if I don't buy anything. They're going to miss it. I'm going to miss it."