CAIDEN BAILEY, 9, son of Courtney Bailey of St. Clairsville holds some of the toys he planned to buy from the Toys R Us in St. Clairsville on Thursday.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — It’s likely where you bought your baby’s crib, shopped for Christmas toys for the grandchildren and where you pretended to be a kid again. But after today, Toys R Us will be no more.

Toys R Us stores nationwide and the location in St. Clairsville are having their final day of operation today. The company for months has been liquidating its merchandise at stores across the country after declaring bankruptcy.

The deals Ohio Valley residents have been getting have been bittersweet. Sure, everyone wants a nice toy for more than half off the regular price. But next Christmas Toys R Us won’t be there for shoppers to enjoy.

St. Clairsville resident Courtney Bailey was shopping with her son Caiden, 9, at the St. Clairsville store on Thursday. She said she would miss the retailer.

“It’s been here ever since I can remember. It’s pretty wild that it’s closing. It’s going to be hard to shop for Christmas,” Bailey said.

Quaker City resident Terry Mozena said she was “disappointed” the store was closing. Since the announcement of its liquidation she has been visiting occasionally to get marked-down items.

“I always enjoyed coming here,” Mozena said.

Pat Kittle, an 11-year employee of the St. Clairsville store, said it is a shame the retailer is shutting down. He described working there for more than a decade as “fun.”

“It’s just a big shame. … The best part of it was the people. It was one big family,” Kittle said.

Kittle was helping Rex Hammerman of the Philadelphia, Pa., area load toys into the back of a rented box truck. Hammerman said he was buying pallets full of toys the store could not sell. He said the toys would be resold by an online retailer, the name of which he declined to disclose.

“I buy from as many as I can get to,” Hammerman said of the stores.

Managers inside the store declined to comment Thursday, but they did confirm the St. Clairsville location’s final day of operation is today. While there were some toys remaining for purchase Thursday, most of the shelves were empty. Most items were marked down 80-90 percent. The store is only taking credit cards as payment, not debit cards or cash. Several fixtures were still for sale.

The company, which also owned the Babies R Us chain, was hobbled by $5 billion in debt after a leveraged buyout that left it unable to invest and keep up.

As the last of the company’s U.S. stores close, more than 30,000 workers will be looking for work. Toys R Us’ troubles also have shaken some big toy makers like Mattel and Hasbro.

Customers who were still devoted will be looking elsewhere to shop. Retailers like Walmart and Target are expanding their toy aisles to fill the hole, while Party City is opening 50 pop-up toy shops this fall.

Toys R Us filed for Chapter 11 reorganization last fall and pledged to stay open, but it had poor sales during the critical holiday season as customers and vendors shied away. In January, it announced plans to close about 180 stores, but then in March it said it would liquidate the rest of the 700-plus stores.

An auction for the company’s name, baby shower registry and various trademarks is set for late July. The 16-foot tall statue of Geoffrey the Giraffe that greeted visitors at Toys R Us headquarters in Wayne, N.J., will be moved to a children’s hospital in the state.

Many long-time employees were hoping to retire at a place they called home.

“I’m never going to have a job like Toys R Us,” said long-time employee Patty Van Fossan, 54, from Ohio, who was among a group of workers at protests in New York, fighting for severance that they believe they are owed. “It was the best job I had. I was surrounded by children.”