Toys R' Us Returning for Holidays

Mythian

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I heard about this on Kiro7News here in Washington state. It's all over the internet with many other sites talking about the big news for the last five hours or more.
Could this possibly mean that MLP will return to sacred grounds of our beloved toy stores?
We'll only find out when we go hunting this holiday.

:smile::xmastree2::blossom::flutter:
Toys R' Us Returning for Holiday Season

Article cut/pasted below:

The Toys "R" Us brand will continue, as the retail chain that was once the largest toy store in the U.S. will return in time for Christmas 2019 with fewer than ten stores, each of which will be about a third of the size of a traditional Toys "R" Us big-box store. That's according to Bloomberg, whose sources say TRU Kids (the company built out of the remnants of Toys "R" Us) have finally figured out their plan moving forward after months of suggesting that there was life after toy-store death.

Apparently, the plan is for the stores to be about 10,000 square feet, with additional "experiences" like play areas to make them more of a destination. This makes sense in a market saturated with play places that sell toys and t-shirts out of their food carts, but is a different look than Toys "R" Us customers are used to. In the Bloomberg report, TRU spokesperson said that the company was not ready to share details on its relaunch strategy, but perhaps tellingly there is no indication that she actually denied the report.

TRU would also be operating an online storefront at ToysRUs.com in order to generate additional revenue, and mitigating costs by taking product on consignment from producers, and paying only when the goods have left the store. This has its own risks, especially in higher-theft areas where Toys "R" Us would be on the hook for merchandise that was never properly accounted for.

While the market certainly suffered from the loss of Toys "R" Us, toymakers and other retailers have figured out ways to soldier on without the retailer. That means TRU Kids will have to rebuild some relationships and build some new ones. According to Bloomberg, The Toys "R" US CEO has said that MGA Entertainment, who make things like Little Tikes, Bratz, and L.O.L. Surprise!, are already on board.

“This market needs a self-standing toy store, that’s for sure,” CEO Isaac Larian said. “We will sell them inventory.”

The previous Toys "R" Us stores were closed down after it became obvious that there was no clean path to getting out of financial trouble for ownership. They explored the idea of licensing Toys "R" Us but ultimately landed on a relaunch in the hopes that they can make more than licensing to a competitor would.
 
Hmm, interesting. Of course, me being anywhere near one would be laughable with them only having ten. I guess I'll look from afar and wish! :D
 
Yeah I've heard of TRU being revived in some form a couple times now but have seen no results

We'll see if this one happens

....I still can't believe the original went under
I miss it so much
 
Only ten? Sounds like a trial relaunch that they don’t have much confidence in. It would be nice to have a toy store where kids could freely play and have other activities though.

Oh, and maybe more MLP exclusives. But I feel that that’s only gonna happen if they’re actually successful, and theft could really mess this up for them
 
I'm kinda glad it's so few, after the way they shut down and the lack of benefits paid out to employees, supposedly.

Remember how KB Toys was supposed to come back last holiday season?
 
I do kinda feel like for you stores to compete with Walmart or online, you gotta have more than just toys. You need to make it a play destination, something that can’t be replicated by those places.
 
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