In the 1980s and even the 1990s, Toys R Us was a destination that children begged their parents to take them to.

The chain had a selection of toys that dwarfed what was sold at now-defunct department store chains like Ames, Caldor, and Bradlees. Even its Sunday newspaper inserts were an event and its holiday season "toy book" was much perused by children in order to pick out what gifts they planned to ask for.

Toys R Us' slow path to bankruptcy, which it filed on Sept, 19, did not begin with Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN). It started with chains like Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT) creating toy departments that not only pushed prices (and margins) lower, but also made it so a visit to Toys R Us was no longer unique. Wal-Mart and Target made Toys R Us less of a destination and gave parents a way to placate their kids while also doing their own shopping.

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Source: Fool.com