Five years ago, Toys ‘R’ Us looked like it was gone for good. The shelves were empty, Geoffrey the Giraffe was retired, and a generation of kids (and nostalgic adults) quietly mourned the end of a childhood staple.
Now, the brand that once defined toy shopping in America is staging yet another comeback, this time with 28 new stores opening across the country just in time for the holiday shopping season.
The Toys ‘R’ Us revival is being driven by Go Retail Group, a specialty retailer behind pop-ups like Calendar Club. Together with WHP Global, who acquired the Toys ‘R’ Us brand in 2021, they’re betting that nostalgia, mixed with some strategic mall real estate, can breathe new life into a name that once ruled the toy aisles.
A mix of flagships and pop-ups
Toys ‘R’ Us will launch eight flagship locations in major shopping centers. Many are already open, with others expected to roll out by early November. Here’s a list of the flagship store locations –
Flagship stores:
- Chicago Premium Outlets — Aurora, IL
- Camarillo Premium Outlets — Camarillo, CA
- Arundel Mills — Hanover, MD
- Jordan Creek — Moines, IA
- Westroads Mall — Omaha, NE
- Denver Premium Outlets — Thornton, CO
- Tanger Outlets Deer Park — Deer Park, NY
- Towne East Square — Wichita, KS
It’s been a long road back. Toys ‘R’ Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017, collapsing under billions in debt from a 2005 private-equity buyout. The following year, it closed roughly 800 stores, marking the end of an era for American toy retail.
Then came the rebuild – Tru Kids Brands bought the intellectual property in 2018 and experimented with a handful of boutique-style stores before selling a controlling stake to WHP Global in 2021. That led to the Macy’s partnership, which brought Toys ‘R’ Us mini-shops inside hundreds of department stores and showed the brand wasn’t done yet.
The new rollout with Go Retail marks the boldest step so far. Unlike the Macy’s model, these are standalone retail spaces, designed to look and feel closer to the Toys ‘R’ Us that millennials remember, just smaller and more modern.
For a brand that’s gone bankrupt, been reborn, and now rebuilt yet again, this comeback feels less like a reboot and more like a resurrection, one that’s betting Christmas 2025 could finally bring the magic and its accompanying revenue back.
Because if Toys ‘R’ Us can survive Amazon, private equity, and an entire generation of iPad kids… maybe Geoffrey really does never say goodbye.
Source: Fastcompany