Amazon Plans To Publish Toy Catalog For The Holidays

Moms.com

By Allison Cooper

Published Jul 6, 2018

Kids are going to be thrilled because apparently Amazon is going to publish a toy catalog for the holidays.

Credit: iStock / romrodinka

If there is one memory that we all have in common about the holidays as a child, its the day that the Toys R Us catalog would arrive in the mail and we would take a big red marker to it, circling all the things we hoped to be gifted that year. Pure childhood bliss. With the fact that they have closed their doors for good, we've been mourning the loss of that moment for our kids - but that all might be about to change. Amazon, the online retailer that pretty much lead to the demise of Toys R Us, to begin with, is rumored to be making a holiday toy catalog of their own.

With Toys R Us down for the count, there is even more holiday business to be had this year, and Amazon is taking full advantage. Bloomberg reported that the online retail giant is going a very traditional route this year with their advertising by printing a guide, or catalog, that will be mailed to millions of U.S. households. It will also be handed out at Whole Foods Market locations, the grocery chain Amazon bought last year, said the people, who asked not to be named because the plan isn’t public.

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Why take things offline? Apparently, the move is part of Amazon’s push to incorporate traditional retailers’ tools into its business model. According to Bloomberg, they even looked into acquiring some Toys “R” Us locations earlier this year. though, that came after its $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods go a lot of attention as it pushed into brick-and-mortar retailing. Amazon has since been integrating the Whole Foods chain into its larger business, including marketing its voice assistants and discount membership in stores.

Bloomberg also reported that an Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, but with Toys R Us's “Big Book” toy catalog being a staple during holiday time and probably helping the retailer generate a chunk of it's $6.5 billion in U.S. sales last year, it's probably safe to say that Amazon wants a piece of that pie.