#Roommates, many of us were absolutely heartbroken last year when iconic toy store Toys ‘R’ Us not only filed for bankruptcy, but also closed all of its stores nationwide. Well, apparently Christmas miracles can come early because the toy chain has officially returned—and opened up a new store.
Just in time for all your holiday shopping…Toy ‘R’ Us is back again! @Complex reports that the company’s first new store since filing for bankruptcy is located in New Jersey. The new location is the first of two Toys ‘R’ Us locations in the U.S. and is expected to be open in time for some much-needed holiday revenue for the company.
Located at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, New Jersey, this is the first Toys ‘R’ Us store since the nationwide closures back in 2018. To add even more good news, another location is set to open in early December at Simon Property Group’s The Galleria in Houston, Texas. While both stores will be permanent, they are said to be smaller than the original Toys ‘R’ Us stores.
It was initially announced that Toys ‘R’ Us planned on reopening a small number of stores earlier this year and that the brand was being revived by its new parent company, Tru Kids, courtesy a new website powered by Target. If sales are promising, Tru Kids will open more Toys ‘R’ Us locations in the future.
Tru Kids CEO and President Richard Barry, had this to say of the new business venture:
“We believe that Toys ‘R’ Us was renowned, and customers really saw us as the experts in the space. And we want to make sure we deliver on that, but in a very different way than we were before, because this is a high-touch, experiential store. Our vision is smaller, experiential stores.”
He continued, adding:
“We wanted to make sure that everywhere you turned in the store there was interactivity. We have an amazing number of digital experiences throughout the store, but we also have good old analog [experiences.] Take the products out of the boxes and kids will be able to get their hands on them.”
The recent New Jersey location is approximately 6,000 square feet, a large size difference compared to the 40,000 square feet that older stores used to have. So, if you want Toys ‘R’ Us to stick around permanently, make sure you shop the new locations in your area.
Roommates, what are your thoughts on this?
