US toy, clothing, video game, and baby product retailer Toys R Us is officially back and its first brick-and-mortar store is set to open this week. The company announced that it will be opening two new stores in two cities to hopefully bring back feelings of nostalgia to previous fans and create new memories for younger patrons.
The two stores that will be opened will be smaller than the previously humongous stores that the company is known for. The first the store will officially be opened to the public on Saturday at the Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield's Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, New Jersey. A soft opening event will be held on Wednesday this week, with a ribbon-cutting and invite-only access.
The second permanent Toys R Us store that will be opened will be within the first two weeks of December at the Simon Property Group's The Galleria in Houston, Texas. The opening of the stores will mark the company's official return to the retail market after it was forced into liquidation last year.
Since its liquidation, the company had to shut down all of its stores in the United States. The store's parent company, Tru Kids, worked with Target to help it re-launch its brand, first through the return of its online e-commerce website.
Tru Kids CEO, Richard Barry, stated in an interview that the new stores will be very different from the old Toys R Us stores as they will feature a lot of interactive elements. The company is banking on the integration of newer technologies to hopefully bring in more visitors. This will include the addition of a number of digital experiences that will be spread throughout the store.
Apart from the digital upgrades, the company will also be bringing back a number of old analog experiences. This will include areas where kids can actually take the toys out of their boxes and play with them.
The first official store in Paramus sits on a 6,000 square foot property and will only have a staff of around a dozen trained "toy professionals." The employees have apparently received training to test different kinds of toys with kids and their parents as well as to help customers order items not available in the store online.
Toys R Us also plans to open additional stores in the coming months, with most being within 10,000 square feet in size. The company is currently scouting different locations in major cities around the country. Prior to the announced opening of the new stores, Tru Kids had revealed that it plans to open at least 10 new stores in the US by 2020.
