Charles Philip Lazarus was an American entrepreneur, executive, and pioneer within the retail toy industry.
15 Facts About Charles Lazarus
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Charles Lazarus opened his first store dedicated exclusively to toys, which he named Toys "R" Us, in 1957.
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Charles Lazarus was born on October 4,1923, to a Jewish family in Washington, DC, where he was raised as a child.
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Charles Lazarus served as a cryptographer in the US Army during World War II.
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Charles Lazarus was inspired by his generation of service members who, like himself, returned from WWII, married, and began having children.
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Charles Lazarus began selling cradles and cribs inside his father's existing bicycle store.
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In 1948, Charles Lazarus opened his first store, Children's Bargain Town, a children's furniture store located at 2461 18th St NW in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC He primarily focused on strollers and baby cribs during his store's first few years in business.
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Charles Lazarus noticed that parents frequently visited his store to purchase the latest toys and stuffed animals, as their children lost interest in their older toys in favor of new ones.
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In 1957, Charles Lazarus opened his first toys-only store in nearby Rockville, Maryland.
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Charles Lazarus tweaked the name and logo by turning the "R" around to face the left to appear as if a small child had written it.
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Charles Lazarus was considered a retail titan by the 1980s as it began to expand overseas with locations in Canada, Spain, and Singapore.
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Charles Lazarus stepped down as chief executive officer of Toys "R" Us in 1994.
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Charles Lazarus had two daughters with his first wife, Udyss Lazarus; they divorced in 1979.
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Charles Lazarus died of respiratory failure at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on March 22,2018, at the age of 94.
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Charles Lazarus's death occurred just one day before Toys "R" Us began liquidation sales in the United States.