Toys R Us is making yet another comeback. This time, the iconic brand is teaming with Macy's to open toy shops in more than 400 department stores nationwide starting in 2022, the two companies announced Thursday. Starting Thursday, customers can shop for Toys R Us toys at Macys.com/toysrus and Toysrus.com. As a Toys"R"Us kid, I could not be more excited to bring this beloved brand that so many of our customers know and love into Macys online and to our stores across America, said Nata Dvir, Macys chief merchandising officer, in a statement. Our toy business grew exponentially in the past year, with many families looking to inspire their childrens imagination and create meaningful moments together."
Toys R Us mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe will welcome shoppers to the new shops, which will be built inside Macys stores. Information about how large the shops will be and a list of the Macy's stores that will get the new toy departments are not yet available. Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in March 2018 and closed all stores nationwide by late June 2018. In 2019, the company said it was making a comeback under new ownership and opened two stores. The pop-up mall location stores closed earlier this year, and WHP Global, a brand management company, also announced that it acquired a controlling interest in Tru Kids, the parent company of the Toys R Us, Babies R Us and Geoffrey the Giraffe brands. Our partnership with Macys marks the greatly anticipated return of ToysRUs in the U.S.A. and changes the retail landscape by combining two beloved retail brands together for consumers across the nation in a completely innovative way, Yehuda Shmidman, chairman and CEO of WHP Global and Toys R Us, said in a statement. Macy's Inc. Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette said the toy category is a growth area, and with the partnership, he expects itll quintuple the size of the department store chain's toy business. Gennette said Macy's will have access to the toy company's private brands and plans to expand. We will do lots of marketing together. You will see them in the parade as an example," he said during Macy's quarterly earnings call.
In January, Macy's Inc., which also runs Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury, announced its last round of store closures and identified 36 namesake stores and one Bloomingdale's that shuttered early this year. The string of closures was part of Macy's three-year plan to close one-fifth of its stores, or roughly 125 locations, which was first announced in February 2020, before the pandemic. About 30 stores closed in 2020 as part of the plan. As of July 31, Macys Inc. had 726 total locations, including 512 Macys locations, 54 Bloomingdale's locations, including outlet stores, and 160 Bluemercury stores. Neil Saunders, managing director of consultancy GlobalData Retail, told USA TODAY he thought the addition of Toys R Us would give families more of a reason to visit Macys. But he said the department store needs to make sure the concept looks good. Macys added their own small toy department to a lot of stores last year, and many of them are very messy and hard to shop, Saunders said. Standards need to be stepped up if theyre to make a success of the Toys R Us partnership.