Toys ‘R’ Us Plans To Return In The United States

Moms.com

By Lynnette Nicholas

Published Jun 25, 2019

One of our favorite stores is about to reboot and come back, so childhood is happy and our kids will be too.

Credit: iStock / ollo

While more than 700 Toys “R” Us stores closed last year to the dismay of many parents across the country, Richard Barry, a former Toys “R” Us executive, and now CEO of Tru Kids Brands who has acquired the rights to the company has confirmed that at least two Toys “R” Us stores will be coming back to the US this year.

Tru Kids Brands’ owners won the rights to the Toys “R” Us brand last October. They also took over the former company’s other assets and brands including Babies “R” Us, Geoffrey the Giraffe, and Imaginarium.

“We’re definitely coming back in 2019. At minimum two stores. There’s more planned for 2020,” the person said. The new stores will be smaller than Toys “R” Us’ old stores and “experiential,” the spokesperson added.

Bloomberg first reported Barry’s plans. According to Bloomberg, “The stores are slated to be about 10,000-square feet. The locations will also have more experiences, like play areas.” A spokesperson for Tru Kids said the company is not quite ready to share details about their U.S. business strategy publicly at this time.

“We have significant interest about how to bring the brand back to the US,” Barry told CNN Business earlier this year. “We’re working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to bring it to life.”

Barry pitched his plans for Toys “R” Us at a recent conference in Las Vegas, said Isaac Larian, the billionaire toy executive behind Bratz dolls and Little Tikes toys.

Larian stated “They’re considering opening two stores to begin with and then go from there. I hope they’re successful,” he said. “There is a need for an independent toy chain in the US, whether it’s Toys ‘R’ Us or something else.”

Larian tried to buy roughly 300 Toys “R” Us locations in the United States and Canada last year. Toys “R” Us rejected that offer.

Regardless of the business strategies that are in the works, parents will definitely appreciate this return as many were very unhappy to see the chain shut down last year. While chains like Walmart and Target were a great substitute with the absence of Toys “R” Us, parents will agree that Toys “R” Us was missed indeed, especially for the Christmas season.