The Caldor Rainbow reader and fellow retail enthusiast who traverses the circuit of mall-related blogs, Jack Thomas, has provided wonderful on-site pictures of a known, old-school Toys "R" Us in Tallahassee, Florida. This update comes off the heel of a recent retro round-up.
The retro store, likely built in the late 80's (our guess is 1986), located along Appallache Parkway seems to contain all the elements from the store's conception: the signature brown "mansard" roof, rainbow-stripes (not repainted!) and even a pastel-colored road sign these oldies typically contained. Thomas ensures us the photos are recent, taken in December 2008. The Caldor Rainbow discovered the store back in March 2008 via our eye in the sky.
To get some perspective, here's the store shot from the sky, courtesy of Live Maps.
To get some perspective, here's the store shot from the sky, courtesy of Live Maps.
Oddly enough, there's no Jeoffrey sign anywhere on the building nearby but we assume with Florida's frequent, rampant weather patterns, it's likely the mascot's plexiglas iteration had been destroyed or mangled over the course of the store's 20 plus year run.
The Caldor Rainbow suspects other stores with left-behind looks in Bradenton, Orange Park and Gainesville. Check out The Ames Fan Club Forums for satellite imagery.
21 comments:
Hooray! New posts from you! I was jonesin' for a new Caldor Rainbow fix, and what a great one it is! I'm loving the retro Toys R' Us! I wish I still had a Toys R' Us where I live. The Medford, MA store closed in I think either 2005 or 2006 (not a retro store).
And on another note, I'm still mourning the death of Kay Bee Toys. I recall you did a post of Kay Bee a while ago. It would be great to have one now...
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year and thanks for another great post.
We need interior shots!!!!!! Somene pleeeeeeeeeeeease!
;-)
In reference to the Bradenton store...If theres not a Jeffery on the store now...there use to be. A really bad hurricane hit about 40 miles or so south of Bradenton 4 yrs ago. There was lot of damage in the Bradenton area from what I understand. I live in Tampa so I do not get down that way all that often.
You misspelled the name of the giraffe. Change the "J" to a "G"
His name is Geoffrey.
I came across this while looking for information about our Tallahassee store. It was damaged in a storm about a month ago and is temporarily closed. Last I heard they were discussing options to 'remodel' the current building or move to a new location. I miss our Toys R Us, but they really did need an update. I was told shortly before they had the damage that there was talk of building a new Toys R Us/Babies R Us store in Tallahassee to replace that one. Back to researching...
I grew up going to this store! It looks just like it did back when I used to live there (I moved away in 2001) Sad to hear it was damaged in a storm. I miss the old layout this store had, none of the TRU's where I live now have it anymore
I always called it "We B Toys" !
I have very fond memories of going to a store that looked exactly like this one when I was a child to buy NES games. Good looking out!
Just opened two packages of Cannon sheets (stockpiled by MIL who is 82) with Caldor price stickers on them (13.99 each)from about 25 years ago.
If you haven't driven by lately, they have officially added a Babies R Us to the building's layout. New signs on the store and roadway confirm it's here. They're advertising the hiring process, so it should be open again very soon.
what does the building look like and what do you mean added BAbies R us layout and when did they do that?
I don't have a picture, but yes...they've remodeled the store. No more rainbow colors on the building. Pretty sure the store is now open, as they've taken down the "temporarily closed" sign and there were a ton of cars there over the weekend (11/6/09). Just in time for the holidays! :D
but a pic showed that they have the Brown roof. There are many brown Roofed Toys r us' that removed the rainbows.
here is a pic of it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferret111/4034735567/
here is what the store looks like in Tallahassee: http://www.wtxl.com/Global/story.asp?S=11469623&nav=menu594_2_13
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the Toys r us' in Woburn and Roanoke are being turned into Toys r us babies r us combos
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One of the best store in the area. when I was child I got my favorite toy there! Every Christmas I take my children there!
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