Why neighbourhood toy stores boom while Toys R Us goes bust

ELLA Wiesenfelder has been going to Barstons Child's Play her whole life, so naturally it's where she wanted to be on the afternoon of her eighth birthday.

She had already picked out a Lego spaceship and a magic kit with 150 tricks for herself and was now helping her six-year-old sister, Cora, make a selection.

"This is fun. It's much better than shopping online," she said, "because I don't know how to use the computer." Ella and Cora, it's fair to say, are not Toys R Us kids.