Here's some happy Valentine's Day news for toy lovers: The reports of the Toys R Us American demise may have been too hasty. Fans in the U.S. should see the iconic brand resurrected—at least in some form—by the Christmas holiday season.
Richard Barry is a former Toys R Us executive. He’s now CEO of the new company called Tru Kids Brands. Barry and several other former Toys R Us executives are managing the Toys R Us, Babies R Us, and Geoffrey (the giraffe) brands. Barry and his team are exploring options including freestanding stores and shops inside existing stores. Barry also says e-commerce will play a key role.
Competition from Amazon and several billions of dollars of debt caused Toys R Us to file for bankruptcy in September 2017. The company closed its businesses last year in the United States as well as several other regions. (See WORLDteen’s “Toys R Gone.”)
In October 2018, a group of investors won a Toys R Us auction. The investors believe they could do better by possibly reviving the toy chain, instead of selling it off bit by bit.
Tru Kids is based in Parsippany, New Jersey. That’s about a 20-minute drive from Wayne, New Jersey, where Toys R Us was based.
Barry believes "[Toys R Us and Babies R Us] are beloved by customers." He and his team have been reaching out to toy makers. They have received strong support for re-building the brand.
Tru Kids hopes to open 70 stores this year in Asia, India, and Europe. Outside the United States, Toys R Us continues to operate about 800 stores. For now, Toys R Us kids will have to wait for the American version to return.
(In this July 30, 1996, file photo, a woman pushes a shopping cart over a graphic of Toys R Us mascot Geoffrey the giraffe at the Toys R Us store in Raritan, NJ. AP Photo/Daniel Hulshizer)
