Image Courtesy of Toys ‘R’ Us
September 25, 2025
Should Toys ‘R’ Us Be Making a Bigger Play at Physical Retail?
Toys ‘R’ Us is rolling out its biggest expansion since its rebirth, adding 10 new stores and 20 holiday pop-ups in the U.S. in time for holiday selling.
The toy retailer, now owned by brand management firm WHP Global, said this is its biggest growth year yet in this latest incarnation. The openings will be supported by its partnership with Go! Retail Group, which operates toy and game stores in malls across the U.S. under Go! Toys & Games and other banners, first formed in late 2023 to open stores in the U.S.
After filing for bankruptcy in 2017 and being liquidated in 2018, the chain was sold to WHP in 2021.
Confirmed openings in the U.S. this year include locations in Aurora, Illinois; Camarillo, California; Hanover, Maryland; West Des Moines, Iowa; Emeryville, California; Omaha, Nebraska; Thornton, Colorado; and Long Beach, California. Several of the new locations already opened come in at around 13,000 square feet, smaller than Toys ‘R’ Us’ traditional locations that averaged between 20,000 to 40,000 square feet.
Since being resurrected by WHP, it has relied heavily on retail partnerships rather than standalone stores, including installing Toys ‘R’ Us shop-in-shops inside all of Macy’s 424 stores nationwide.
Go! Retail Group, prior to this year, opened four locations in Bloomington, Minnesota; Norridge, Illinois; Auburn Hills, Michigan; and San Marcos, Texas. Toys ‘R’ Us also operates a store in the Dallas Fort Worth Airport and will have eight stores in operation on U.S. Navy and military bases this year.
Globally, Toys ‘R’ Us is strengthening its foothold in major markets such as the U.K., Mexico, South Africa, Asia, and South Korea, as well as expanding into markets it never served before, including Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Morocco, and Lebanon. Overall, Toys ‘R’ Us said it has more than 1,500 stores and e-commerce businesses across more than 35 countries.
“As we head into the most magical time of the year, Toys R Us is reaching more kids and families than ever before,” said Kimberly Miller, global CMO, in a press release. “From new store openings with our global partners, to the launch of our second Global Holiday Play Day serving as the runway to the season, to Geoffrey’s Birthday celebrated worldwide on Oct. 17 — and of course the main event in December— Toys R Us is creating joy and excitement for kids of all ages everywhere.”
Toys ‘R’ Us Faces Tariff Pressures This Holiday Season
Toys ‘R’ Us’ collapse was attributed to bloated debt levels stemming from a 2005 leveraged buyout, as well as competition from Amazon, Target, and Walmart — retailers that often use toys as loss leaders over the holiday selling season.
Toys ‘R’ Us’ renewed push comes as Mattel, Hasbro, and other toy makers have warned that toy buyers will face higher prices this holiday season due to tariffs.
On the positive side, Circana has predicted that the toy industry will return to growth in 2025 following flat sales in 2024 and a decline in 2023.
“The toy industry is showing strength during this period as consumers are holding their breath and waiting for higher prices to kick in,” said Juli Lennett, VP and toy industry advisor at Circana, in early August. “This resilience is especially important as we set our sights on the holiday season and what categories are critical for the consumer to bring joy to their loved ones.”
Discussion Questions
Is now the right time for Toys ‘R’ Us to be accelerating its return to physical retail with 10 permanent stores and 20 pop-ups opening in the U.S.?
How vulnerable is Toys ‘R’ Us to tariff pressures?
How should the stores be differentiating themselves to drive success?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Gary Sankary
Retail Industry Strategy, Esri
Gene Detroyer
Professor, International Business, Guizhou University of Finance & Economics and University of Sanya, China.
Jeff Sward
Founding Partner, Merchandising Metrics
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Toys R Us didn’t go bankrupt because it was irrelevant, but because it was saddled with crushing debt from private equity game-playing. That said, the market has shifted since the brand’s heyday: competition is fiercer, price sensitivity is greater, and volumes are under pressure as traditional toys compete with electronic apps and games. Stores now need to add value through experience and excitement – as existing flagships demonstrate. And so long as they remain competitive, seasonal pop-ups are a smart way for TRU to capture volume during the peak trading period. This is a limited play, which makes sense as there is no real scope of TRU being the dominant player it once was.
There is no denying how the excitement of a physical store experience comes alive especially in a category like toys. WHP now has plenty of data from operating their store-in-stores, as well as their other physical stores. While opening new stores in the current, unpredictable market has risk, this sounds like a calculated risk. I also like the that they are adding permanent stores as well as pop-ups to further test markets/locations. The tariffs will no doubt play a role this holiday season, but people will still buy toys for their kids.
The smaller store footprint (13,000 sq. ft. vs. 20-40,000 sq. ft.) is a format optimization effort for a post-Amazon retail environment, where toy discovery and play are valued. The rejuvenated brand is aiming for more experience per square foot than its former warehouse-scale model. Additionally, the expansion risk is minimized through the Go! Retail Group partnership, allowing potential scaling while WHP Global maintains brand control. The permanent stores and pop-ups offer quick hypothesis-testing sites for future growth. Toys ‘R’ Us is not pursuing its former glory; instead, it’s carving out a specialization niche in experiential toy retail.
There’s a difference between a toy store and a toy department; what we have now are toy departments. Toys ‘R Us was a store with a capital S and it has been greatly missed.
It sounds like TRU has a solid plan. I wish its team all the luck in the world. We need a new generation of Toys ‘R Us kids!
FAO Schwarz will live forever as the epitome of physical retail experiential toy stores. Spirit Halloween has taught us all some pretty amazing lessons about pop up stores. TRU can tap into both of those business models and give a wide array of markets a great experiential toy store presence.
The international progress for TRU is impressive. While I can’t speak to the toy market in each country, we are talking about the U.S. operations. The other countries operate under licence or separate entities from the original dissolution of TRU. I imagine they are essentially toy sections in already existing stores.
For the U.S, toys aren’t what they used to be. The big box TRU broke new ground when it opened. They provided a market need. However, today, there are numerous alternatives to physical toys, and online options are available on Amazon and Walmart. The resurrection of TRU is a wish and a hope. This is one business I would not want to get into.
Toys ‘R’ Us vanished from the UK in 2018 – why? In-short Amazon and not keeping up with the times. I found it staggering at the time – they had the opportunity to create a destination retail – place for play – in some ways like the Apple Store.
In a similar timescale, Lego stores had sprung up – Lego Leicester Square opened as the largest in the world in 2016 – and even today you need to queue to enter.
In many ways, there are many parallels with Hamley’s – dubbed as the most famous toy store in the world – where experience and the ability to play is at the forefront – I recall being unable to get my 4 year old son to leave.
With their expansive stores, Toys ‘R’ Us have a unique opportunity to be an experience led destination – giving the touch and feel experience that Amazon and less specialised stores can never match.
The market that Toys R Us was successful in has undergone a fundamental shift. Thinking back to their heyday, they weren’t just a toy store. The frequency drivers for TRU were baby supplies- high-turn, low-margin products: diapers and formula. Discounters have snapped up that market share, and recapturing it would be extraordinarily expensive from a marketing perspective.
With those categories out of play, they’re left with a highly seasonal toy business that’s extremely volatile; a hot new toy can make or break a season. The good news there is equity in the brand, but I have to question how successful a standalone toy store in a suburban strip mall would be. In the right center, with the right boutique ambiance, maybe?
This strategy feels like it’s built more on nostalgia. We all remember the toys, but we seem to forget what the real core business was for TRU, and today, that business would be very difficult to recover.
Toys “R” Us is wise to re-enter physical retail cautiously, but the lessons of the past must guide this move. The original platform failed because of oversized stores, crushing debt, and an inability to compete with Amazon and mass merchants on price and convenience. This time, smaller permanent stores and flexible pop-ups offer a more capital-light approach and a chance to focus on what digital channels can’t easily replicate—discovery, play, and experience. The question isn’t just whether the time is right, but whether the new TRU can truly differentiate its model.
Tariffs remain a real vulnerability, as toys are heavily dependent on overseas manufacturing. Unlike Walmart or Target, Toys “R” Us lacks the scale to easily absorb higher costs, making pricing discipline and supplier partnerships even more critical. Without careful planning, tariff pressures could undermine the economics of this relaunch.
For TRU to succeed, its stores must become experiential destinations—places where kids can try new toys, families can gather for events, and brands can showcase exclusives. Coupled with seamless integration to online shopping and localized assortments, this strategy could allow Toys “R” Us to reestablish itself without repeating the structural mistakes that led to its collapse.
Opening retail toy stores is not for the faint of heart. But Toys R Us can get traction by staying focused and playing up the special experience of toys. Kids are kids, and they are dazzled with what they see and imagine playing with. 10 stores with 20 pop ups gives them a chance to find early successes by creating appealing experiences for both kids and parents alike. Learn from these locations to drive what’s next.