Stores like Toys “R” Us are making a comeback once more, but this time they’re on cruise ships and in airports.
The parent company of the toy store, WHP Global, revealed plans to create stores in airports and on cruise ships in addition to expanding to up to 24 flagship locations.
The ailing toy business is making a risky move with the “air, land, and sea” expansion, appropriately termed. The company is attempting another comeback after declaring bankruptcy and liquidating all of its stores in 2018. It has made multiple unsuccessful return attempts under different owners.
The relationship with Macy’s in 2021, when the two businesses decided to sell toys on Macy’s website and build shops within shops in 400 department stores, gave the toy retailer a fresh lease on life.
According to a spokesman, the new flagship stores will “open in prominent locations that complement the existing retail footprint at Macy’s.”
One flagship store already exists: Toys “R” Us constructed a 20,000 square foot flagship store at the New Jersey American Dream Mall in 2022 to commemorate its return to the US.
Toys “R” Us was purchased by WHP Global in 2021 from Tru Kids Inc., which had purchased the defunct company in a 2018 liquidation sale. Only two of the roughly a dozen standalone stores Tru Kids had planned to open in US malls actually materialised, one each in New Jersey and Texas. The business later closed both, citing Covid-19.
Yehuda Shmidman, chairman and CEO of WHP Global, said that the company had extended its global retail footprint by more than 50% since acquiring Toys ‘R’ Us, with more than 1,400 locations and e-commerce sites in 31 countries.