Former toy-store giant making a come back just in time for Christmas.
Toys “R” Us kids everywhere were sad to see the demise of the popular toy store in 2017 and 2018. It seemed Geoffrey the Giraffe was gone for good thanks to financial troubles and competition from online retail giants like Amazon. Toys “R” Us followed a line of child-product related companies that went out of business around that time, including Colorado-based Right Start, New York-based Giggle (which recently relaunched as an online retailer), Gymboree, and more.
But don’t count Geoffrey out just yet. In January of this year, the toy store and all of the offshoots associated with it were bought by Tru Kids Inc., and the new owners set about resurrecting the toy emporium.
“Effective January 20, 2019, the new company, Tru Kids Inc. doing business as Tru Kids Brands, became the proud parent of Toys R Us, Babies R Us, Geoffrey and more than 20 established consumer toy and baby brands,” Tru Kids Brands said in a press release.
And, it appears Tru Kids has found a solution to the previous financial troubles. Toys “R” Us is expected to reopen stores in select areas just in time for the 2019 holiday season. It will also re-launch its e-commerce site. Changes have been made to the business plan, including taking products on consignment from manufacturers rather than owning the inventory, paying only when the goods have left the store. It’s risky because of theft, but it is a solid way to keep costs down.
So far, Tru Kids has not officially announced which cities it will relaunch stores in or what the stores will entail, but it seems to be putting some serious effort into the resurrection of the brand.
Leaked information (not confirmed nor denied by Tru Kids officials) suggests that less than 10 stores will be opened prior to the 2019 holiday season, and they will have a smaller, more personal feel than previous stores. Each store will be around 10,000 square feet and will offer experiences that make it more of a destination, including play areas. The hope is that it will provide an intimate shopping experience that makes people want to shop in-store rather than on Amazon.
That might just pay off, considering that Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us continue to have well over 9.5 million loyal followers across their social media channels.
“We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to write the next chapter of Toys R Us by launching a newly imagined omnichannel retail experience for our beloved brands here in the U.S.,” Tru Kids CEO Richard Barry said in a statement announcing the plans.
What do you think of the return of Toys “R” Us? Sound off in the comments below.