Most high schoolers in this era are well-acquainted with Amazon and the ability to make purchases requiring a single click. However, some students still did not expect to ever have to see Toys R Us closing their doors.

“I thought [Toys R Us] was doing well,” senior Hannah Lamneck said.

In reality, Toys R Us has been struggling since before Amazon opened its virtual doors. Many of the problems can be credited to the inadequate management and poor decisions that have been made for this toy chain, though technology and the loss of interest in toys are seemingly sealing the fate of this once-renown toy chain.

Though many stores have suffered from the exponential rise of online shopping, Toys R Us has fared the worst. According to The Atlantic, Toys R Us was unable to make an online presence due to its crippling debt of 5 billion dollars. In 2005, Toys R Us underwent a massive buy out, that can be credited to the debt that brought Toys R Us its ruin.

It was the beginning of a vicious circle, as Toys R Us would require to be online in order to make a profit and out of debt.  Unfortunately, the debt is the cause of the company’s inability to remain afloat in the waters of loss. “Part of the reason is poor management,” Fayetteville Toys R Us employee Aakash lall said.

“More people are interested in shopping online instead, so it was about time,” freshman John Paino said. Many students are in agreement that Amazon has occupied the spot that U.S. Steel and Standard Oil once had during the Gilded Age. “It is honestly better,” Paino said. He has a point.

The convenience of online shopping cannot be denied, and many students declare themselves unaffected by the loss of America’s once leading toy retailer. “I’m not heartbroken about it,” senior Makenna Dunkel said.

There is a justification for the disinterest that many high schoolers depict. The following generations have or will be sculpted by the influence of technology and smartphones. They are replacing the old-fashioned mechanical toys and board games with virtual games, causing sales of toys to continuously decrease into loss.

There are many instances where kids are not even aware of the many options of engaging toys out there due to the declining popularity of television and cable. Toys can be outgrown, but it appears that smartphones are the ones that grow instead.

There are a select amount of students who do appear to be affected by Toys R Us’s bankruptcy through expressions of nostalgia. “I got my favorite stuffed pony there for my sixth birthday,” junior Providence Blalock said.

Other students have made plans to go to the Fayetteville Toys R Us for the last time. “I went when I thought it was closing last year, and I will probably go this year, too,” sophomore Eugenie Christiansen said.

Toys R Us continues to suffer losses.  CEO Dave Brandon insists that it will be for the company’s best interest.  They have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to continue in the direction he wishes to go. Fortunately, the direction of his goals include making a better and upgraded online presence, and fighting the new enemy of toys: apps and Amazon.