First Toys “R” Us in Canada closes in Brampton as shoppers say goodbye

The doors have officially closed on a piece of Canadian retail history.

Hundreds of shoppers spent Sunday saying goodbye to the first Toys “R” Us store ever to open in Canada, marking the end of a 42-year run that helped change how generations of families shopped for toys.

The Brampton store, located at 150 West Dr. in the 410 @ 7 Centre, welcomed its first customers in 1984, becoming the launch pad for the toy retailer’s Canadian expansion. On Sunday (July 12) evening, those same doors closed for the final time.

For many of the people who stopped by before the store shut down, the visit wasn’t about finding bargains on nearly empty shelves. It was about reliving childhood memories.

“This place was where I got my first job. It was a lot of fun working in a toy store when you are still kind of a kid,” said Robbie Creighton, who worked at the store shortly after it opened and is now approaching retirement. “The concept was so new back then—a big store that was entirely dedicated to toys. I’m sorry to see it go.”

Creighton said Toys “R” Us completely changed the shopping experience for Canadian families.

Before it arrived, he said, many parents relied on the toy departments inside stores such as Eaton’s and Simpson’s, and his own family often had to travel to downtown Toronto to do their Christmas shopping.

“Toys “R” Us changed all that,” Creighton said.

Mary Rodrigues also returned one last time to visit the store where she spent countless hours as a child before bringing her own children years later.

“This place brings back a lot of memories, but times change,” she said.

For Jimmy Singh, who immigrated from India and grew up in Brampton, the store represented something he had never experienced before.

“I thought I was in a fantasy world the first time I walked in,” Singh said. “I had never seen anything like it before.”

Looking around at the nearly empty shelves on the store’s final day, however, he admitted it was difficult to watch.

“Everything is almost gone. It’s sad.”

Inside the store, many aisles that once overflowed with bicycles, dolls, LEGO sets, action figures and video games had been picked nearly clean after weeks of liquidation sales. Entire sections sat empty as shoppers made their final purchases.

Employees, meanwhile, spent the last day helping customers while preparing for an uncertain future.

Some staff members said they planned to begin searching for work elsewhere but hoped other Toys “R” Us locations across Ontario would survive the company’s restructuring.

“Maybe if they open again, I can get a job there,” one employee, who declined to be identified, said with a smile. “At least I can tell them I have experience.”

The Brampton location’s closure comes as Toys “R” Us Canada continues restructuring after filing for creditor protection earlier this year. Mounting debt, higher operating costs, inflation and changing shopping habits forced the retailer to begin closing stores across the country.

Although several Ontario locations remain open for now, the Brampton store occupies a unique place in Canadian retail history.

When it opened in 1984, there was nothing quite like it.

Instead of a small toy department tucked inside a larger store, Toys “R” Us introduced Canadians to enormous aisles dedicated entirely to children’s toys, games and bikes. For many families, a visit became part of birthday celebrations, Christmas traditions and weekend outings.

Over the past several days, social media has been filled with nostalgic tributes from former employees and customers sharing memories of buying their first bicycle, searching for the season’s hottest Christmas toy or simply wandering the seemingly endless aisles as children.

Many described the closure as “the end of an era.”

As the lights were switched off Sunday evening, Brampton lost more than another retail store.

It lost the place where Toys “R” Us began its Canadian journey more than four decades ago — a store that introduced millions of children to a toy-shopping experience unlike anything they had seen before and became part of countless family memories along the way.