At first, e-commerce helped the business, with Toys R Us teaming up with Amazon in 2000 as its exclusive toy retailer for a 10-year period. Yet when Amazon allowed other toy companies to sell through its site before the contract was up, Toys R Us ended the partnership. The toy giant successfully sued Amazon but didn't fully recover.

A toxic combination of greedy investors and mismanaged finances meant the chain was forced to go bankrupt in September 2017. A company called Tru Kids Inc. bought the retailer in 2018 and opened two new stores in New Jersey and Texas.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those stores have since been shuttered – but the brand is making a minor comeback. In 2021 it announced it would be opening "shop-in-shop" outlets in 400 Macy's locations throughout the US, with sites ranging in size from 1,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet.

Famous American companies that went out of business