Results tagged “toysrus”

Toys R Us has announced its purchase of FAO Schwarz. According to the AP, "Toys R Us will operate FAO Schwarz's flagship store in New York City and a second store at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. FAO Schwarz's Web site and catalog will continue to use the company's name." Toys R Us chairman and CEO Jerry Storch said, "We will work tirelessly to preserve the distinctiveness and integrity of the FAO Schwarz stores and brand as we grow the business and, indeed, take the brand to even greater heights." However, Storch did not details the financial agreement. FAO Schwarz has filed for bankruptcy protection twice and last year announced it would sell toys in Macy's stores.

The family who found a California King snake wrapped around a 7-month-old baby's leg on Monday has decided to sue the mattress manufacturer and store where the mattress was purchased.

Feeling the sting of controversy - and perhaps wanting to keep relations with Chinese-Americans warm - after disqualifying a newborn Chinese-American baby born to non-legal U.S. residents in a New Year's scholarship contest, Toys R Us has decided to give all three babies in the drawing $25,000 scholarships. Here's the toy retailer's statement:

"We love all babies. We deeply regret that this sweepstakes became a point of controversy. As a result, we have decided to award all three babies in the grand prize pool a $25,000 savings bond."

People had been upset with the company's original decision denying little Yuki Lin, born at NYC's Downtown Hospital, a scholarship for the first baby born in 2007. It turns out that Lin had won the original drawing but then was disqualified because of Lin's mother legal status - the parents are two 22 year old Chinese immigrants working in Chinatown restaurants. If Toys R Us had these concerns, why was Lin even in the drawing to begin with? (Their contest seems flawed.). City Councilman John Liu said, "How does a company like Toys 'R' Us stick it to a baby on the first day of her life?"

Of all the retailers to find themselves in a heated debate about immigration, Toys R Us is one of the more unlikely ones. But the toy retailer is under some criticism concerning how it handled a newborn's situation in a New Year's contest. Toys R Us offers a $25,000 scholarship towards college education for a baby born in the new year. The NY Times reports that three babies were tied for being the first baby: One from Bay Shore, NY, one from Gainesville, Georgia, and one from NYC's Downtown Hospital, Yuki Lin.

Dear Gothamist,

Dunh dunh DUNH! It's the most insane shopping day of the year, thanks to most people being off and feeling that the day after Thanksgiving is an acceptable beginning to the Christmas shopping season. However, some stores were actually open yesterday, giving turkey and football some competition. Some stores opened at 5AM today, others at 6AM. In fact, some people have been flying in from overseas, perhaps to take advantage of the exchange rate!

Angel Parades was the first person to buy the Playstation 3 at the Sony Store in Midtown (apparently Charlie Murphy was on the scene!) while Sergio Rodriguez bought the first one at the Union Square Circuit City. Rodriquez said, "This is the best game ever. It's so worth the wait. Some people may call me crazy, but I really love to play."

- Le Cirque - It's a pretty hilarious article - and we hope this means Charlie has earned her street cred as a beat reporter.

Toys R Us cannot live down the tempest in a nursing bra cup. Last week, breastfeeding mother Chelsi Meyerson claimed employees at the Times Square store harassed her to stop nursing her son in the store, urging her to move to a private room.

The city is always a hotbed for activism. Metro has a story about two gay men and a lesbian staging a sit-in in front of the U.S. Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square yesterday. Only thing is the USAFRS was closed! The three protesters, who were trying to "enlist in defiance of the military’s ban on homosexuals" believe the USAF knew they were staging the purpose and decided to close up. Jake Retain, a Soulforce coordinator, told Metro, "Why else would they be closed at 10 a.m. Wednesday?"

If you tuned into Good Morning America this morning, you may have noticed Diane Sawyer extracting something from a safe. And, yes, that red and furry object was the new Tickle Me Elmo T.M.X. - T.M.X. for Tickle Me eXtreme. Not only the the doll talk in the third person and giggle, Elmo basically has a crazy laughing fit - slapping his knee, falling on his back and convulsing, getting back up, falling on his side, rolling to his front, slapping the floor, getting back up. Forget getting this for kids - this is totally what we're getting everyone for their birthdays. Or we're just going to buy a lot and sell them on eBay, most likely at a loss.

Arthur Frommer and the pharmaceutical company Novartis have teamed up to give Americans the Where to Stop & Where to Go of places to travel and places there where you can go to the bathroom, and one of the cities mentioned at length is New York City. Novartis makes a drug for OAB, which stands for Overactive Active Bladder (apparently 33 million Americans suffer from it!), and when you go to the site where you can order the guide, you fill out a survey that asks you whether you urinate "8 or more times over a 24-hour period (frequent urination)." (Gothamist became slightly freaked out when we took the survey, but then realized our goals of trying to drink 8-10 glasses of water a day also causes the frequent urination.) And you can print out a "I Need to Go Now" card (PDF) for you to flash storeowners, but we doubt that showing this card at a fancy boutique will get you anywhere.

It has happened: The Howard Johnson at Broadway and 46th Street has been sold. The Rubinstein family who owned the HoJo at 1551 Broadway for ages sold the property, plus another building on West 34th, for $100 million. The Post speculates that the new retailer will be something a little more high-end, as rumors say the buyer, Wharton Acquisitions, will level the building to create a "retail box" like the Times Square Toys R Us to make a "world-class branding opportunity" for some major brand. Hmm, maybe a Campbell's Soup Test Kitchen? A Procter & Gamble Health and Beauty Aids Emporium? What do you think will go there?

While Gothamist doesn't think we'll be seeing Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith during the first weekend (as a friend put it, Hayden Christensen looked more like a date rapist than brooding Jedi), we're totally excited about the Darth Tater toy. It's a Mr. Potato Head with Darth Vader accessories. An Amazon reviewer writes:

A couple of choice lines from the packaging: "Together we shall rule as father & spud!" + "As a Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Tater was once a promising young Jedi who lost his roots!"

Now we totally want to be Darth Tater for Halloween!

Did you have any nightmarish experiences while shopping this weekend? What are some of the non-harmful-spray tactics people use to get their goods?

Margaret Braun, Sugar Artist

Okay, we know you've seen Lord of the Rings: Return of the King already, maybe as part of the marathon showing. Gothamist wants to know what you think. And if you haven't seen it yet (gasp!), before or after you watch the movie in Times Square, you can go to the Times Square Toys R Us where they have some of the props from the film on display. [Via Neil]

Samology's photographs of the ferris wheel at the Toys R Us at Times Square reminds Gothamist of how fun it is to go there. While the megastoring of NY is disconcerting, the Times Square Toys R Us is a keeper.

The Cricket in Times Square is a great book about the heart of the city. And The Colossus of New York has a chapter about Times Square.

located, on Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street, a "24 hour, 7 days a week, 365 days a year" building "dedicated to Children's Entertainment and Seasonal Products." The Daily News covered the fair and AdAge made guesses for hot picks for the upcoming season.

Check out the Lego versions of the Harry Potter characters! LEGO HARRY POTTER They also have Star Wars, and they did have Spiderman when I went to Toys R Us this past summer. Now, if only they would do a Lego version of Twin Peaks.