The New Toys “R” Us store opens at Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey.
Source: Tru Kids Brand
Toys R Us closed the only two stores it still had in the United States.
The iconic toy seller has made the decision due to the hardships caused by the Covid pandemic and intends to move resources to opening new locations where there is better traffic for shoppers, a spokesman for CNBC said in a statement via e-mail. mail.
“Consumer demand in the toy category and for Toys R Us remains strong and we will continue to invest in the channels in which the customer wants to experience our brand,” he said.
U.S. toy sales rose 16 percent last year to $ 25.1 billion, market researcher NPD Group said Monday, as families turned to toys to keep children busy during the health crisis. . But a substantial portion of those sales have moved online.
Tru Kids, an entity that acquired Toys R Us intellectual property during its liquidation in 2018, opened two smaller stores in late 2019: one at the Garden State Plaza mall in Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in Paramus, New Jersey, and a second at The Property Gallery in the Simon Property Group in Houston. The Houston location closed Jan. 15, the spokesman said, while the Paramus location closed Tuesday.
URW and Simon’s representatives did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
Tru Kids is still running the Toys R Us website, which eventually sends customers to Amazon to complete a purchase after selling them toys. It also continues to license the brand globally.
Many consumers moved away from brick and mortar stores during the pandemic and bought more online. Retailers in the mall suffered exceptionally. It will probably take some time for shoppers to adjust to returning to malls, and a retail research firm predicts there could be up to 10,000 store closures announced by retailers in the US this year, which would set a new record.
Bloomberg reported for the first time on Friday about the closures of Toys R Us.