A LOOK AT TOYS R US THROUGH THE YEARS:
1948: Toys R Us founder Charles Lazarus opens Children's Bargain Town, a baby furniture store, in Washington, DC.
1957: First Toys R Us store is opened.
1965: Geoffrey the giraffe becomes the company's mascot. He appears in his first TV ad in 1973. The company sells stuffed animals, Lego sets and figurines in Geoffrey's likeness.
1978: Toys R Us becomes a public company.
1983: Kids R Us opens, selling children's clothing. It had a 20-year run before all 146 stores were closed in 2003.
1996: Babies R Us is born, selling diapers, cribs and car seats. There were more than 200 Babies R Us stores as of last year.
1998: The ToysRUs.com website is launched.
2005: The company is bought by three private equity firms and taken private.
2007: Toys R Us buys New York toy store FAO Schwarz. It closes the store in 2015 and sells the brand a year later.
2015: Toys R Us closes its flagship store in New York's Times Square, which had an 18m Ferris wheel, after 14 years.
2017: Toys R Us files for bankruptcy protection.
