Source: Toys”R”Us
Will Toys”R”Us Fly In Airports?
Toys”R”Us will open its first-ever airport location in time for the 2023 holiday season as part of a partnership between Duty Free Americas and WHP Global, the toy retailer’s parent.
The store, at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), “caters to gift buyers on-the-go and parents traveling with children.” It will feature a curated selection of toys and games, hands-on demonstration tables and a life-size Geoffrey the Giraffe 3-D sculpture photo opportunity for families.
The toy store giant closed all its U.S. locations in 2018 in bankruptcy proceedings. WHP Global has opened Toys”R”Us in-store shops inside all Macy’s locations, including a 14,000-square-foot space inside Macy’s Herald Square since acquiring the U.S. operations in 2021. It has also opened one standalone location, a 20,000-square-foot flagship inside the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, NJ.
Yehuda Shmidman, chairman and CEO of WHP Global, described the DFW store as “an exciting new concept that we believe could roll out in airports around the world.”
“Toys”R”Us is a globally recognized brand beloved by millions of families, and we are confident that the store at DFW will become a must-visit destination for travelers,” said Jerome Falic, CEO of Duty Free Americas.
Airport retail continues to focus mainly on luxury retailing and wares supporting travel, such as sunglass or luggage shops. Some recent first-time experiments in airport retail include New Balance opening its first airport shop at Boston Logan in 2020 and Lululemon opening a store in Hong Kong International Airport in 2019. Canada Goose recently announced plans to open its first airport stores.
Lego last year opened a store at New York’s JFK Airport selling New York City-themed products, including Lego Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building sets and popular items like Lego Star Wars sets. Outside the store stands a six-foot-tall Lego airplane pilot. Lego also has an airport location in Salt Lake City and several in Europe.
FAO Schwarz, once owned by Toys”R”Us, has opened shops in airports in Chicago, Indianapolis and Norfolk, VA, in a partnership with Hudson Group.
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Do you see much of an expansion opportunity for Toys”R”Us with airport locations? Is toys an example of how airport retail’s mix is evolving or is it a stretch?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Lisa Goller
B2B Content Strategist
Mark Self
President and CEO, Vector Textiles
This is an interesting initiative, but I’m not sure it will be a big play. Toys R Us stores should do well in airport environments as tired parents look for ways to distract their road weary kids. But there’s a risk that these Toys R Us airport stores become more play areas than revenue generators.
The concept of a chain of airport toys stores is a natural and TRU should succeed in this space. Of course, the rest is up to execution.
Toys R Us will be a bit hit in the retail travel space. Traveling parents experience a sense of nostalgia while the younger generations are introduced to a solid kids’ brand, WHP Global has done a phenomenal job with the rebranding and bringing Toys R Us back to life… hats off to the Yeduda and Kim…Toys R Us will be a runaway HIT at airports.
Obsessing about what assortment can be meaningfully supported for the carry on culture. Providing TRU can solve for appeal across age ranges in portable packaging with an AUR that supports overhead then it could be great.
I don’t know about this. Many airport retail outlets already carry toys, so hopefully the assortment will be differentiated. This will be an interesting test.
I don’t see it as a transactional play as much as an awareness play. Parents traveling with kids enter airports with carry-ons full of toys and food to keep their littles entertained. The idea is to keep them busy and “not crying,” a condition difficult to maintain if they walk into a toy store and leave empty handed! It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It’s a bold move but I’m not convinced that toys will play nicely with travel retail’s traditional mix.
John, you describe the traveling family perfectly. However, I am not sure this is a bold move as much as a desperate move.
Airport shops are a smart fit for Toys “R” Us. As business and vacation travel pick up, Toys “R” Us’ airport location will appeal to parents and kids alike. Selling toys in airports distracts bored children and helps parents avoid coming home empty-handed after a business trip.
It will be interesting to see how much value the toy category adds to airports’ retail mix.
I think Toys”R”Us in airports could really take off (pun intended)! This is a near perfect vehicle for TRU. They can catch traveler’s attention and make quick sales to parents, grandparents, friends, and other family visiting or returning to homes with kids. Their ability to minimize checkout time will be essential, so I’m hoping they’re focusing on that part of the shopping experience, too. I’m guessing they’ll use RFID in a smart way. After all, nobody wants to risk missing a flight because the toy line is too long.
I believe the strategies employed by WHP are spot on. The Macy’s store within a store brings back memories of when department stores had toy departments. Maybe a miracle on Wall Street instead of on 34th street is in the cards.
Opening a Toys”R”Us store in an airport is a clever idea and a good test. Parents traveling on business trips often bring home gifts for their children and a Toys”R”Us store at the airport is a convenient way to shop for a last minute gift. It is also a great way to appease bored children on a family trip. For busy airports, it seems like there will be enough demand for this concept.
I like it. Finding new brick and mortar locations in the digital age requires innovative thinking. Vacation destinations, travel terminals, entertainment arenas are all valid real estate strategies as we see store shopping shift from need to want.
I think John Lietsch has said it all
Except for necessary purchases that have to do with my flight specifically, I see airport retail more for browsing than actually buying. If you are a family with kids traveling and the flight is late, Toys-R-Us is the perfect distraction. Or, thank heaven, if you forgot a birthday present for your kid on your way home. In my fifty-plus years of travel, I have brought home many a small toy.
Airport retail has always been a big deal. At international airports, one can’t get to the gates without navigating through a multitude of retail of every type.
AirMall opened at Pittsburgh International Airport in 1992. It is the largest airport mall in the U.S. Revenue averages over $13 per passenger. That sounds good, but that might be a bottle of water and a candy bar at airport prices.
Okay. I believe a “typical” purchase for a child is by a parent purchasing something “from” the area….think Sports team stuff, etc. Assuming I am correct I see very little upside here for ToysRus…maybe you can pick up some sales from parents traveling with children who forgot a toy, however those opportunities are limited. Creative? Yes. Successful? I do not think so.
Toy stores have done well in airports, but Dallas wouldn’t be my first pick. The brand has international appeal, so I’d be looking at the international terminals at LAX, JFK, SFO and MIA that serve as the ‘gateways’ for travelers coming into and leaving the US instead. Then you get to tap all sorts of emotionally driven purchases. From the ‘feeling guilty for being way’ parents to the ‘desperate to keep the kids entertained on the long flight’ parents, not to mention the pull of bored kids when families are waiting for connections during vacation travel.
I thought a Benefit make up vending machine was a stretch. Toys “R” Us is less of a stretch. One advantage will the be the colorful display of items. Toys tucked in the corner or on the shelf of other stores won’t attract the eye as well. As others have stated, the purchase for now, on the plane or coming home with toy in hand are the many motivators for the traveler. Hey, they might have something I’d like to play with.
I wish this would have started in the 90’s!
I’m not sure a traditional store is the right execution. If it’s just to sell products, why not do some kiosk/vending machines? Which, by the way, Lego is already doing in airports.
If it’s for parents and children, why not make more of a play place? And make it more experiential, solving multiple needs for parents and children at the airport.
It’s a unique play that will get foot traffic and probably make some larger news cycles than any other new airport retailer. However, at the end of the day, I don’t see this generating significant revenue for the brand. Parents will take their kids in to browse, but given how stuffed their carry-ons will already be with distractions and toys, I don’t think there will be enough purchasing to create the profits necessary to sustain this as an expansion opportunity.
The airport retail segment could be a hit for Toys “R” Us, given the general lack of competition and the captive customer base. WHP Global is a solid retail powerhouse when it comes to multi-country execution and certainly has the competence to give this expansion of the brand plenty of opportunity to be a success.
I like it as *one part* of a broader strategy, but this attempt in and of itself is not a great long term move. What I find interesting about airport shops is, it feels like you seldom see many people in them given it’s probably one of the highest foot traffic places any retail can be. At the end of the day, it comes down to visual merchandising from the ‘windows’ as you walk through the terminal. I’m sure this is going to drive some sales, but don’t see it as a long-term avenue of success for them.
Creative Kidstuff from here in Minneapolis had a franchise agreement with one of the major airport concession operators in the 1990s-2010s – the operation maxed out at around six locations in major hubs before fading out.
A toy-only proposition is difficult to maintain at hub airports despite the steady footfall – you need the right kinds of toys that won’t scatter in the aircraft cabin or create noise / safety distractions, can’t be too large (need to fit in a backpack, since there isn’t room in the overhead bins anymore), can’t be too expensive as they are impulse items, but also can’t be too cheap as airport retail has extra security and distribution costs to cover. Plus the ever-present challenges of maintaining staffing, and the unexpected challenge of stores being deathly quiet during off-peak hours.
If you want airline-branded materials like playsets, plushies, and cheaper diecast models, you’re going to have to buy from Daron Worldwide, who’s locked up all the licenses – and they already have adequate distribution in existing airport retail.
The better toy assortments I’ve seen lately on the skyways have been integrated with heavily-local shops – which is no surprise as airports try to differentiate themselves with “you can only get it here” offerings that promote local producers. TRU coming in with a homogeneous national approach goes against the headwinds – they’d be better off trying kiosks. I just don’t see them taking off.
I foresee this being an incredibly successful collaboration. Gen X and Millennial nostalgia will drive excitement for consumers that “discover” these stores while navigating the strange abyss of airport retail.
With that said, I’d like to see some experiential elements in these stores: well cleaned toys that kids can play with, possibly a make your own stuffed animal situation a’la Build a Bear. Sensory elements are a must to differentiate the offering, as brand names alone don’t cut it anymore.
Any parent who has come home from a trip and heard “Did you bring me anything” from their child will understand what a great fit a toy store in the airport is. In addition, parents trying to occupy children before a flight will also appreciate the distraction (and will frequently be willing to spend some money). An airport toy store is a perfect fit for these two customer segments. With vacation travel booming this summer, such a shop will have difficulty keeping inventory on hand — perhaps the only risk. Looking forward to hearing about the success of this venture.
I voted “very unlikely” not so much for the concept itself – which very well may take wing, as it were, since it seems like a plausible niche – but more in the sense that TRU’s business model seems to be nothing butfilling niches. And so for me that raises the issue of whether/not they really have any plans of being anything other than some minor player; they don’t have to, of course, but if so I don’t think they really deserve all the attention RW is lavishing upon them.
While this ay not be a huge play, it should be somewhat successful. People with time on their hands and kids in tow will spend time in a wet-known brand toy store to browse and potentially buy gifts. Without much investment, TRU will be able to test the concept and determine its value. It should also increase the brand remembrance for other locations lie the ones in Macys. Toys are an example of airport’s retail mix expansion, and with the right product assortment, should be successful.
If you can sell a 3-piece tailored suit in an airport you can definitely sell toys and children’s merchandise to vacationing families and business travelers who promised to bring something home for the kids. Assuming they run it smartly and don’t overextend themselves to be something they’re not, then I think it’s a smart move.
The brand still has value, at the end of the day it is about the merchandise. Having nostalgia items linking back for the adults such as the giraffe would be a great way to start to draw traffic, the trick will be the merchandising that is easy to carry for airport travel and good value …
Yes, airports aren’t exceptionally focused on kids and to have one specialty store focused on toys may have long-term appeal. Many parents have not traveled with their kids or have taken several years off, Toys R Us provides a useful distraction and some nostalgia for others during cases of long layovers, delays, etc. Frankly, the airport stores offer relatively boring items and it won’t be hard for Toys R Us to exceed that bar while generating awareness and start to connect with new, younger fans.
This concept should work well for a small footprint store, that focuses more on impulse items that are easily carried in a bag or suitcase. They should be careful to keep the store focused on adults purchasing, rather than children trying and buying, and becoming a distraction, rather than an addition to the airport experience as the traveler hurries to their next gate or exit.
Anyone with young kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, etc traveling through an airport routinely ends up with plastic trinkets & stuffed animals from XYZ airport city stuffed in their suitcase. Toys “R” Us could easily scoop the impulse buy airport business up with higher quality merchandise but it would need to be tailored to the local geo otherwise the traveler could easily pass on it or order it online from anywhere.
Here’s a slightly different take. I think it’s an interesting take on capitalizing on a traveling parent’s guilt of being away. Which parent doesn’t want to come home with a toy? Does it create a meaningful experiential playground for traveling kids that drives transactions? Maybe. Or a distraction and annoyance for parents on the run? Overall, I think they are much better off creating a scalable and sustainable strategy that’s mass market.
There seems to be a good chance of success here. More children are traveling, more parents are looking for ways to entertain those children, and parents are willing to give in to child’s demands. This all seems to lead to a potential opportunity for toys in general, and Toys R Us if they can execute – merchandising toys that they know are popular with both kids and parents.
A short personal sample-of-one story. Years ago I was traveling for business at least 2-3 times a month. After too many “local” airport purchases that just ended up in the generic toy bin, my spouse had a perfect idea. I bought 20 Beanie Babies and put them in a box in my car trunk. Each time I would arrive home I grabbed a Beanie Baby for each of my two young children at the time. The kids were happy receiving something they liked, I was happy because it was far easier, and Mom was happy to not be stepping on all manner of toys and books left abandoned. Winning!