ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Ben Metzger brought his daughter to one of the last remaining Toys R Us stores in Central Florida before it closed forever.
"There's not much left," Metzger said as he and his daughter made one last sweep down emptied aisles.
"I think it’s sad to see such an old store, an icon. I used to shop there when I was a kid,” said Metzger.
As the Toys R Us chapter comes to a close, there's a new question: What will happen to the empty store fronts?
Read: All remaining Toys R Us to close Friday
Channel 9 reached out to some commercial real estate locations in Central Florida. Commercial brokers said the real estate market in Central Florida is hot, and big box stores and local businesses could be vying for those properties.
Case in point: The Toys R Us off Colonial Drive near the West Oaks Mall shut down weeks ago. A cheerleading academy called Top Gun took over fast.
Party City already announced its plans to lease about 50 empty Toys R Us locations around the holiday season to use as Halloween and Christmas stores.
Read: The 10 most dangerous summer toys of 2018, according to experts
Other big box stores like TJ Maxx, Ross and Burlington are looking to expand and potentially take over some of the storefronts.
Meanwhile, more than 30,000 Toys R Us employees across the will have to find new jobs.
Cox Media Group
