Toys “R” Us Closes Relaunched Stores

Parents and toy collectors were hopeful that the new Toys “R” Us stores could recapture the magic of the original ones while also adapting to the new online shopping market, but at least in this current iteration, that did not turn out to be the case. It seems primarily because of the coronavirus pandemic, the two remaining relaunched Toys “R” Us stores have been closed, both of which opened in November of 2019. The two locations were located at the Galleria Mall in Houston, Texas, and the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, though the Toys “R” Us website currently remains online and active (via USA Today).

The Houston store closed on January 15th, while the Paramus store closed yesterday, and both were part of the new Tru Kids entity created when the intellectual property of Toys “R” Us was obtained during liquidation.

Both closures though came without warning, and the word of mouth quickly spread after people showed up at the stores to find it either completely closed or rather empty, as the stores had run 50% sales to get rid of inventory. It was a sad sight, especially for those hopeful that these stores would pave the way for a return to the ones so many of us grew up with, but that was not to be.

In a statement emailed to USA Today, Tru Kids said the closures were mostly due to COVID 19, which has hit retailers hard due.

“As a result of COVID, we made the strategic decision to pivot our store strategy to new locations and platforms that have better traffic,” Tru Kids said. “Consumer demand in the toy category and for Toys R Us remains strong and we will continue to invest in the channels where the customer wants to experience our brand.”

Tru Kids stores focused on hands-on experiences, storytimes with Geoffrey, and interaction with other kids, and those are unfortunately at odds with pandemic precautions.

That said, while they are now closed in the U.S., Tru Kids has said that it still operates Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores and e-commerce sites through licensing partners in more than 25 countries.

We’ll have to wait and see if Toys “R” Us can make a true comeback at some point in the U.S. down the road, and fingers crossed it can.