Toys ‘R’ Us Making Nationwide Comeback This Holiday Season…Well, Sort Of
The once-storied toy store giant Toys "R" Us appears to be making a major comeback just in time for the holidays, but there's a bit of a caveat to their re-launch.
The stores won't be stand-alone. Toys "R" Us will be in every U.S. Macy's store in the new few months though. This is part of an extended partnership with the toy retailer's parent company, WHP Global.
The toy stores will range in size from 1,000 square feet in smaller locations to up to 10,000 square feet in bigger cities' stores.
The stores will begin opening in late July through October 15th.
Macy's says they will plan some customer-friendly perks, like demonstration tables for new toys and a life-size Geoffrey giraffe photo opp.
You may recall that the once-dominant toy store went bankrupt and closed all its stores in 2018, including the Lafayette store on Johnston St. Since then, it has attempted several unsuccessful comebacks with various owners.
However, this latest reboot has given the brand a bit of a new lease on life, thanks to the Macy's partnership. It started when the two companies agreed to sell toys on Macy's website and also opened shops-within-shops at 400 department stores.
Toys "R" Us products have been available on Macy's website and ToysRUs.com since last August.
The partnership has worked well for both parties so far. Macy's said in its first-quarter earnings report that its toy sales were 15 times higher than the same period prior to their partnership.