The childhood memories of millions of Americans disappeared with the closure of over 700 Toys 'R' Us stores last year. Now, thanks to one of its executives, the popular toy store is coming back to the United States.
Tru Kids CEO and former Toys 'R' Us global chief merchandising officer, Richard Barry, announced that he will be bringing back the brand to the country. The executive revealed that the company now has plans to open a minimum of two retail stores in the United States within the year. The company also plans to open more stores in the following year.
While the company's comeback may be at a much smaller scale, it is still a big deal given the upcoming holiday season.
Apart from opening new brick-and-mortar locations, the toy, clothing, video games, and baby products retailer also plans to launch its online store to take advantage of the booming online retail trend in the United States.
Barry revealed that they will be opening smaller stores this time around, with an area of around 10,000 square feet. The new stores will apparently be around a third of the size of the standard sizes of the stores that had been closed.
The executive also teased that they will be redesigning the stores to include other activity areas for visitors. Part of the stores will reportedly include "play areas" for visitors and their children. Barry, unfortunately, did not elaborate further on what these areas will actually be.
While Toys 'R' Us closed all of its stores in the United States, the company still continued to operate with over 900 stores in Asia, India, and parts of Europe. Since the firm was absorbed by Tru Kids, plans to re-open in the United States were reportedly already in the works since the start of 2019.
Barry mentioned earlier in the year that Tru Kids will be writing the next chapter for the 71-year old retail brand once they reestablish its presence in the country.
Barry revealed that they have already formed a specialized team that will be focusing on reestablishing and reimagining the brand for the US market. However, resurrecting the popular toy store brand won't be as easy as it sounds.
Since the company closed its stores in the US, major retailers have been scrambling to fill the void left by hundreds of closed stores. Retailers such as Walmart and Target have been ramping up their efforts to attract American toy buyers.
Meanwhile, e-commerce websites such as Amazon have been dominating online sales with ever-expanding toy offerings. Amazon recently launched its own toy catalog, which is mailed to customers on a regular basis. This was a clear move to replace Toys 'R' Us' yearly toy catalogs.
