Toys “R” Us stores are coming back from the dead by the end of this year, as the retail chain plans to open a half-dozen stores in the U.S. and an e-commerce center.
Richard Barry, who used to serve as a Toys “R” Us executive, has been privately teasing the toy chain’s potential comeback to toymakers and at industry events, including one slated for this week, Bloomberg reported.
The retail chain’s stores are expected to be a third of the size of the previous Toys “R” Us outlets with a heavy focus on play areas and experiential spaces in its brick-and-mortar outlets.
The new company would operate under the entity Tru Kids Inc. with Barry at the helm, Fox Business reported.
“Effective January 20, 2019, the new company, Tru Kids Inc. doing business as Tru Kids Brands, became the proud parent of Toys R Us, Babies R Us, Geoffrey and more than 20 established consumer toy and baby brands,” Tru Kids Brands said in a statement in February.
Toys “R” Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2017 and lost its customer share to other retailers like Amazon, Gamestop, and Walmart.
The new company, Tru Kids, would be headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, about 20 minutes away from where Toys “R” Us used to have a base.