New Toys “R” Us Store opens in Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey.
Source: Tru Kids Brand
Toys R Us closed the only two stores he had in the United States.
The iconic toy retailer made the decision due to the hardships caused by the Covid pandemic and plans to shift resources to the opening of new places where there is better traffic, a spokesman for CNBC said in an email statement .
“The consumer’s 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,” the person said.
Market researcher The NPD Group reported on Monday that toy sales in the US increased by 16% to $ 25.1 billion. But a significant portion of sales have moved online.
Tru Kids, an entity that acquired the intellectual property of Toys R Us during the 2018 liquidation, opened two smaller-format stores in late 2019: one in the Garden State Plaza Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield shopping center in Paramus, New Jersey, and a second at Simon Property Group’s The Galleria in Houston. The Houston location closed on Jan. 15, the spokesman said, while the Paramus location closed Tuesday.
Representatives of URW and Simon did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
Tru Kids still operates the Toys R Us website, which eventually sends customers to Amazon to complete a purchase after marketing toys. It also continues to license the brand worldwide.
Many consumers got rid of brick and mortar stores during the pandemic and instead bought more online. Retailers in shopping malls have been hit extremely hard. It will probably take a while before shoppers adjust to returning to shopping malls, and one retail retailer predicts that up to 10,000 store closures could be announced in the US, setting a new record.
Bloomberg reported for the first time on the closure of Toys R Us on Friday.