Toys R Us Plans Comeback With 'Air, Land And Sea' Expansion
This holiday season, shoppers can once again pick up toys for the kids at a Toys R Us store — if they happen to be passing through the world’s second-busiest airport.
A location at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is the first of dozens of new Toys R Us stores that parent company WHP Global plans to roll out nationwide. The location is set to open in November through a partnership with Duty Free Americas, WHP Global announced.
WHP will also partner with Go Retail Group to open up to 24 flagship Toys R Us stores throughout “prime cities” in the U.S. starting in 2024, CNBC reported. The larger rollout will include stores at airports and on cruise ships, as well as brick-and-mortar retail locations, part of what the company is billing as an “air, land and sea” expansion.
Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in 2017 before liquidating all stores in 2018, Retail Dive reported. The brand re-emerged and opened new stores as a new company called Tru Kids Inc. in 2019, but those stores quickly closed due to the pandemic.
Toys R Us marked its U.S. return in 2021 with the opening of a 20K SF flagship store at the American Dream mall in New Jersey. This remains the only standalone store in the country, though it has 452 shops in Macy’s department stores.
“Similar to the global flagship at American Dream, the new flagship stores will serve as epicenters of immersive fun, providing customers with a destination to explore and discover the hottest toys,” the company said in the news release.
WHP Global bought Toys R Us from Tru Kids in 2021 and has increased its global retail footprint by more than 50% since, Yehuda Shmidman, chairman and CEO of WHP Global, said in the news release.
“We now have over 1,400 stores and e-commerce sites across 31 countries, and as we head into 2024, we are excited to bring Toys R Us to consumers everywhere, whether you're visiting one of our stores at Macy's, at our flagships, in an airport or onboard a cruise ship,” Shmidman said.
The cruise ship stores will sell “a wide range of toys and exclusive cruise-themed merchandise for children and families during their voyages,” the news release says.
The brand generates more than $2B in retail sales annually, according to WHP Global.
