“I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us kid. They got so many toys at Toys ‘R’ Us that I can play with”
That jingle was the soundtrack of many an 80s baby’s birthday party or pre-Christmas joy. Sure there was Lionel Kiddie City and their Kangaroo “turned your frown upside down,” but Toys ‘R’ Us and Geoffrey the Giraffe did more than just flip your sad face to the happy face. Toys ‘R’ Us was heaven; each Barbie dream house represented the many mansions The Great One has for each goodie two shoes, the Twister games became glimmering bricks laid on those streets paved of gold and of course the Match Box cars lined them up and down each side.
But all of those images of crumbled in earlier this year when the company went into bankruptcy liquidation and seemingly pulled the plug on 800 stores. When they shut the doors of their US stores, the 70-year-old retailer let go over 31,000 workers.
But something happened and the owners had a change of heart. According to CNN, there were people interested in acquiring the company but this week the owners took an assessment of the remaining assets and decided to restart and rebrand the business.
The filing stated that the company is considering “a new, operating Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us branding company,” and that it will “create new, domestic, retail operating businesses under the Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us names, as well as expand its international presence and further develop its private brands business.”
Toys ‘R’ Us has suffered over the last few years with the emergence of Walmart, Target, and Amazon as toy buying options. According to Business Insider, Walmart, Target and Amazon were able to slash prices on toys in such a way that the traditional stores could not compete. Even famed high-end toy store FAO Schwarz also suffered severely, as parents and grandparents opted to go to these one-stop shopping models, discount malls and internet spots to shop for their kids. Ironically, Toys ‘R’ Us acquired FAO Schwarz in 2009. And was sold in 2015 because it was not bringing in the projected earnings it once boasted.
Hopefully, the brand comes back stronger than ever with a new strategy to compete in this new era of shopping.
