Toys R' Us Opening Two New US Store Locations In Time For 2019 Holiday Season

by Jay Cochran
August 14, 2019
Toys R' Us continues to move forward with their plans to re-open new stores here in the United States with an announcement that they will have two locations opened in time for the 2019 Holiday season. The locations for those two stores will be The Galleria in Houston, Texas, and in Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey. The stores will be approximately 6500 square feet in size and are described to be highly interactive with new events and activities every day.

They will also be reopening their website where they plan to carry more product than what will be found at the physical stores. See the full press release below.

Press Release:

Tru Kids Brands TM (“Tru Kids”), the proud parent of the Toys“R”Us® brand will bring Toys“R”Us stores back to the United States this holiday season. Tru Kids and b8ta, the software-powered experiential retailer have entered into a joint venture to launch a new store experience that will deliver the hottest toy products and brands, carefully curated and showcased in highly immersive smaller-format spaces.

The first two new Toys“R”Us stores will open this holiday season, located in The Galleria in Houston, Texas, a Simon Mall, and in Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey. Brand partners and experiences will be announced in the coming weeks.

“With a 70 year heritage, the Toys“R”Us brand is beloved by kids and families around the world, and continues to play a leading role in the hearts and minds of today’s consumers,” said Richard Barry, CEO of Tru Kids and Interim co-CEO of the new Toys“R”Us joint venture. “We have an incredible opportunity to entirely reimagine the Toys“R”Us brand in the U.S. and are thrilled to partner with b8ta and key toy vendors to create a new, highly-engaging retail experience designed for kids, families and to better fit within today’s retail environment.”

The new Toys“R”Us stores will serve as must-visit destinations for kids to learn, play, and fall in love with the latest and most popular toys, and for parents to have fun with their children and ignite their own childlike sense of play. The stores will be highly interactive with new events and activities every day, from seeing toys displayed out of the box to test before making a purchase, to visiting different brand stations to driving learning through play embracing STEAM, or just having fun with Geoffrey ® the Giraffe in the open playspace.

“As a kid, my memory of Toys“R”Us was running up and down the aisles kicking balls and playing with the coolest toys,” said Phillip Raub, co-founder and president of b8ta and Interim co-CEO of the Toys“R”Us joint venture. “As the retail landscape changes, so do consumer shopping habits. But what hasn’t changed is that kids want to touch everything and simply play. In partnership with Richard and his team, we are excited to bring back Toys“R”Us in an immersive way, focused on creating a fun and engaging experience for kids—and adults, too.”

Using b8ta’s innovative experiential retail model, brands will showcase their products in an interactive, playground-like environment, creating an entirely new retail experience centered around product discovery and engagement. Brands also will have the opportunity to design custom experiences and branded shops to help them create memorable experiences for parents and children. This experiential retail environment will leverage b8ta's Retail as a Service (RaaS) platform, which enables brands to actively manage their in-store experiences and measure how offline experiences translate into online sales.

“We launched b8ta to change the fundamental infrastructure of retail, from the business model to the customer experience. b8ta is proud to bring Toys“R”Us stores back to the U.S. alongside our partner, Tru Kids, and with our Retail as a Service platform as its engine,” said Vibhu Norby, CEO of b8ta. “The new Toys“R”Us stores will be the most progressive and advanced stores in its category in the world, and we hope to surprise and delight kids for generations to come.”

The companies plan to open additional locations in prime, high-traffic retail markets within the U.S. over the course of 2020.
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Comments...

Last 10 comments - ( Read All Posts )
Satam - 2019-08-15 @ 7:14 pm
2 hours ago, JayC said:

Just my 2 cents but honestly from the perspective of an adult action figure collector, I would not expect much with these regardless of the number of stores. The way it sounds, their primary focus is going to be very young children, babies and their parents. If they have any action figures in their stores my guess is it will be very minimal. Another big question I have is how many toy manufacturers are really going to be willing to go in on TRU again having just lost tons of money in unpaid debt from the last go around???

If your a parent of a very young child this might be a place you want to take them just for the experience but I see nothing as of yet that says TRU is gearing up to try and attract the adult collector.

I also don't expect much. But I live in a major metropolitan area and had hoped I might be able to see for myself. Didn't have much optimism. Have even less now.

JayC - 2019-08-15 @ 4:15 pm
56 minutes ago, Satam said:

It's not, and I don't think most people expected that, and I'm sure no one expects them to open anywhere near 700 stores again. However, based on press releases saying they would open new stores this year in time for the holiday season, I thought it might be more than two.

Just my 2 cents but honestly from the perspective of an adult action figure collector, I would not expect much with these regardless of the number of stores. The way it sounds, their primary focus is going to be very young children, babies and their parents. If they have any action figures in their stores my guess is it will be very minimal. Another big question I have is how many toy manufacturers are really going to be willing to go in on TRU again having just lost tons of money in unpaid debt from the last go around???

If your a parent of a very young child this might be a place you want to take them just for the experience but I see nothing as of yet that says TRU is gearing up to try and attract the adult collector.

Satam - 2019-08-15 @ 3:13 pm
3 hours ago, JayC said:

More stores are planned for 2020. Its not realistic to expect they are just going to magically reopen all their stores at one time and I doubt they will ever have the number of stores they once did even if this relaunch is successful

It's not, and I don't think most people expected that, and I'm sure no one expects them to open anywhere near 700 stores again. However, based on press releases saying they would open new stores this year in time for the holiday season, I thought it might be more than two.

Figurecollector123 - 2019-08-15 @ 2:18 pm

I have a feeling this isnt going to work.

Colt90 - 2019-08-15 @ 1:40 pm
9 hours ago, JayC said:

So pretty much seems like TRU is basically going to be the new KB Toys now

So prepare for it to close down again... got it.

JHS1988 - 2019-08-15 @ 1:36 pm

I just mapped out the time it would take me to get from east Texas to The Galleria inHouston. Even if I know Im not going to just make a trip south for one store, Im happy for more options in the toy game

JayC - 2019-08-15 @ 11:54 am
7 hours ago, Satam said:

HOLY $#!+, A WHOPPING TWO STORES!

More stores are planned for 2020. Its not realistic to expect they are just going to magically reopen all their stores at one time and I doubt they will ever have the number of stores they once did even if this relaunch is successful

K9K1N6 - 2019-08-15 @ 6:59 am

Man that sounds really neat :D, let's hope it goes well.

InspectorZartan - 2019-08-15 @ 4:50 am

So obviously there are lots of challenges for small businesses to thrive in the marketplace and one of those challenges is if you are a small retail outfit you cant compete with big box prices since big box stores with hundreds and thousands of location and/or extensive distribution (I.e. Amazon) can get large discounts from the toy manufacturersbased on ordering volume. With only 2 locations TRU isnt going to meet very many of those thresholds. With that in mind TRU would probably be better off skipping 2019 and coming back strong in 2020 with more locations out the gate.

Satam - 2019-08-15 @ 4:10 am

HOLY $#!+, A WHOPPING TWO STORES!

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