Founding father's philosophy: have fun - history - Toys "R" Us

DSN Retailing Today, Oct, 2003 by Tony Lisanti

When the Beach Boys harmoniously sang "Fun, Fun, Fun," in the mid-1960s, Charles Lazarus was humming the tune in his own way and redefining fun in retailing as the roots of the Toys "R" Us chain were beginning to blossom along with the nation's baby boom.

In addition to Lazarus' philosophy that "retailing be "fun," there were other factors that contributed to his successful career, including some sound advice from another retail legend and a genuine understanding of the customer. All these factors plus a penchant for simplicity and hard work helped him expand from the first baby furniture store he opened in 1948 in the Washington, D.C., area and spearhead the growth of TRU in the 1980s and beyond.

Clearly a retail pioneer, Lazarus is credited with the development of the first big box specialty concept that redefined retailing for decades and spawned dozens of copycat concepts nationwide. But the modest Lazarus, as he looked back on his career in a recent interview with DSN Retailing Today, also believed that he was basically just in the right place at the right time.

"I always believed that if you offered the largest selection, if you had everything the customer wanted year-round and not just the last two months of the year, the customer will always come," Lazarus explained to DSNRT. "The original concept of the business was really just a copy of the supermarket business model."

Lazarus' first store was a furniture store, called Children's Bargain Town, which evolved into selling toys. Said Lazarus, "The toy business was kind of an accident. I started out selling a few baby toys and realized that customers didn't buy another crib or another high chair or playpen as their families grew, but they did buy toys for each child."

In keeping with his commitment to having fun, Lazarus adopted other elements of what have become key marketing icons for TRU today. For example, the backward "R" was a result of a suggestion made by the worker installing a roadside sign. The idea stuck because so many customers commented about it. And Lazarus began using the giraffe in 1960 because it was a "friendly" animal and everyone else was using pandas and bears. The Geoffrey name was selected as the result of the winning entry in a contest among store personnel to name the giraffe.

While he made it a point to have fun and generate excitement about TRU throughout his career, Lazarus is credited with many innovative ideas. But it was perhaps his friendship with Sam Walton that influenced him as much as anything else and helped shape a critical component of TRU's strategy today. In fact, he served on the Wal-Mart board for eight years and had many conversations with Walton about retailing.

"What I learned from Sam and Wal-Mart was that distribution is the key to the retail business," Lazarus recalled.

Lazarus, who has been away from the day-to-day of TRU for almost 10 years, said he's never really had the inkling to start-up another retail business, but continues to keep abreast of his former company.

"I love the new departmentalization and feeling of the free-flow aisles rather than straight aisles," he said. "The customer can wander around the store and see all the merchandise rather than just going directly to a particular aisle."

As far advice he would give to chairman John Eyler, Lazarus said, "Stay in stock, don't stop being creative and listen to the customer."

Not surprisingly, the TRU founder continues to subscribe to a simple philosophy that served him through his successful career--have fun. For the energetic 80-year-old that means playing croquet in Central Park, developing a new contemporary art museum in lower Manhattan and staying involved in various charitable activities.

history

FAST FACT:

By 1966, Toys "R" Us, under the leadership of Lazarus, had four stores that produced $12 mil. in sales.