What Happened to Toys R Us? The Business Mistake That Ended an Empire | The War on Mediocre Business Ep. 3

Toys R Us once sold one in five toys in the United States. Then it was completely gone. Here's what actually killed them, and why the same mistake is happening in businesses right now.In this episode of Whatever Happened To, Scott Monday unpacks the rise and fall of the world's largest toy retailer. From Charles Lazarus's category-killer strategy in 1957 to the leveraged buyout that buried Toys R Us in $400 million in annual interest payments, the collapse has a lesson that goes far beyond debt and Amazon.The real culprit: the messy middle. Trying to win on price, quality, and experience, and ending up winning at none of them.If you're running a business in the $2M to $20M range, this one hits close to home.📬 The Scott Monday Newsletter — business stories and operator tools, every Saturday: https://scottmonday.substack.com0:00 - The Memory Hook0:47 - Quick Intro1:03 - The Rise of Toys R Us3:11 - The Crack and the Fall6:18 - The Operator's Take: The Messy Middle8:40 - What This Means for Your Business This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit scottmonday.substack.com