Photo: Toys "R" Us
Toys “R” Us is coming back to New York’s Times Square less than two years after deciding to leave its former 110,000-square-foot flagship store in that locale. This time around, the chain is going smaller with a 35,000-square-foot pop-up in the historic Knickerbocker Building at the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway. The store is slated to open this month and will operate throughout the Christmas holiday season.
"The Times Square holiday shop reunites our brand with an iconic New York destination which we are thrilled about," said Dave Brandon, chairman & CEO of Toys"R"Us, in a statement. "More importantly, the store offers customers a host of products tailored to the needs of city dwellers and visitors — all in interest of bringing play to kids and families around the world!"
The pop-up will serve as a pickup location for online orders. Toys “R” Us will also offer layaway with the holidays approaching. The new location will have three levels with an emphasis on the chain’s shops-in-shop concepts, including Marvel, Star Wars, Nerf, Lego and others. A Hot and New shop will feature the most popular toys for the holidays. The store will also highlight electronics, such as Nintendo Switch and Fujifilm Instax cameras.
Interaction is high on the shopping experience list at the pop-up, which will include a dedicated area on the second level to allow kids to play with products out of their boxes. The area will also be used for the store to demonstrate toys. The store will feature interactive toy displays across all three levels.
When Toys “R” Us opened its former flagship store in Time Square, the chain’s management envisioned the location as a shopping magnet for consumers from around the world. That store featured a 4,000-square-foot Barbie dollhouse, a 60-foot-tall indoor Ferris wheel and a 20-foot-tall animatronic T.rex that roared at passing shoppers. The new pop-up will have a “scaled-down” version of the T.rex on its second level.