Hey there, it's Steven Dubner from Freakonomics Radio, and I am busting into this

Economics of Everyday Things episode to tell you that we are doing a live Freakonomics radio show

in Los Angeles on February 13th, and I hope you'll join us. Guests will include Ari Emanuel,

the CEO of the Sports and Entertainment Firm Endeavor,

the filmmaker R.J. Cutler, and the Freakonomics Radio House Band, led by Luis Guerra.

For tickets, go to Freakonomics.com slash live shows.

A portion of our ticket sales will go to wildfire relief efforts.

Again, that's freethonomics.com slash live shows.

February 13th in L.A.

I hope to see you there.

For decades, if you wanted to buy a toy of any kind,

you would head to one of America's most beloved retail chains.

Founded in 1948 by a World War II veteran, Toys R Us at one point controlled 25% of the toy market.

It had hundreds of warehouse-style stores all over the country.

And the typical location stocked as many as 18,000 products,

Barbie dolls, video game consoles, Nerf guns, stuffed animals, and Lego sets.

But by the 2000s, Toys R Us was in trouble.

A private equity buyout put the chain billions of dollars in debt.

It couldn't keep up with Walmart and Amazon, and sales declined.

In 2017, it filed for bankruptcy.

And to pay off its creditors, it did what many ailing retailers do in their final days.

It put on a going out of business sale.

...