Toys R US vs KB Toys | Category Killer | 1

Business Wars

Wondery

History, Business, David Brown, Management

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 November 2023

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s the 1950s and in Washington D.C., Charles Lazarus is running a small baby furniture store in the house he was born in.

But when a customer comes seeking toys, Lazarus starts on the path towards creating a toy superstore empire called Toys “R” Us and building immense wealth.

And he’s not the only businessman chasing toy riches. In Massachusetts, a wholesaler called Kaufman Brothers is building a rival toy chain in the nation’s shopping malls.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's February 1988 and at 205th Avenue in, toy fairs back again.
0:14.0	Every year, 18,000 toy store buyers descend on this building.
0:19.0	They're here to check out the products manufacturers hope
0:22.0	will become the big hits of the next holiday season.
0:25.0	And in the corridor leading up to the showrooms, an intern for Louis Galoob toys runs as fast as he can.
0:32.0	Excuse me. Out of the way, move. runs as he can. he can.
0:33.0	Out of the way, move, move, move, move.
0:36.0	Out of the way.
0:38.0	The intern glances over his shoulder.
0:40.0	At the far end of the corridor he sees him coming. Charles Lazarus, the
0:45.5	64-year-old founder of Toys R Us, surrounded by his senior team. The
0:50.8	interns got no time to waste.
0:53.0	He turns a corner, races down another corridor, and bursts into the Louis Galoob showroom.
0:58.0	Inside, the sales team is introducing a handful of store buyers to the company's new toys.
1:04.0	The intern yells,
1:05.0	Toys R Us is coming.
1:07.0	Oh, wow, Toys R Us?
1:11.0	Oh, Toys R Us?
1:12.0	Yeah, that's a big ticket.
1:14.0	Panic ripples through the sales team.
1:16.0	They move fast to round up the mom and pop store owners checking out the products and clear the room.
1:21.0	One woman objects as the sales chief guides her out the door.
	...

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