Toys R Us Is Back! (Kind of...) | Retail Archaeology 

A dead store being ressurected zombie style in the basement of a near dead store... BRILLIANT!

My mom is a Macys merchandiser for 15 years here in Tx. It’s a high volume store and I asked her recently how they going to do about Toys r Us being in the Macys. She said she they had no clue. They don’t even have any fixtures that has anything to do with toyrus or even any room. Probably just going to put the toys on shelves. She said there’s so many back stock of toys that they don’t have any clue where to put them

It feels like a generic toy section that you could really find at ANY department store, but with a Toys "R" Us shell to bring people in. I'm old enough to remember going to places like Kay-Bee's, K-Mart and Toys "R" Us (although we mostly went here during the holidays) and seeing the store pack to the gills with toys. And I agree that the outlet store would have been a better use of both the brand and the name. Seeing that put in the mind of when malls had stores like Kay-Bee's.

The 1990s was the last good days for a lot of stores. I remember Toys R Us, Lionel Play World, Kay-Bee, Waldenbooks, Electronics Boutique, Software Etc., and so much more long gone.

This is sad. It reminds me of the random toy section shoved in the back of Kohls stores. When I think of Toys R Us, I think of huge aisles dedicated to an entire ip or theme. Like a whole, massive Barbie section, or a bike row, or video games. It was sensory overload in the best possible way for a kid. This is just....sad.

This feels like seeing an old friend you haven't seen in a while fall on hard times. All the memories of them in their prime come flooding back and it just makes you pine for the good old days. I wish them the best of luck.

I remember Toy R Us use to do Pokemon tournaments & show cased local Lego art and it bring in huge crowds. With Pokemon Go and Pokemon cards being being popular I know they can bring in people into stores if they use the brands they sell to attract an audience.

Part of what made the experience of going to Toys R Us so magical as a kid was the sheer size of the place. These branded toy sections don't look like places where kids could easily get lost or would beg their parents for just a little more time to look around before they have to go home.

I was in Canada recently and had to go to Toys r us for that sweet sweet nostalgia. This one in Calgary was packed with toys. No clothes bs taking up room

I hope one day Toys R Us comes back in full force. It hurts my heart to see it like this.

Honestly I do agree they should’ve made stores like the outlet ones rather than go to Macys. I worked for Macys, and my store was one of like 14 I believe to test out toys sold at Macys (2019.) I remember as the toy specialist I had a bunch of toys and no space at all. And that’s kinda how these Toys’R’Us’ feel. Here in Vegas we do have two locations with nicely sized tru stores tho!

It's like finding a Payless ShoeSource in a Shopko.

Toys R us are opening pop up stores in the UK too, they're exclusive to WHSmith, which is a place that sells newspapers and magazines mostly, but also sell stationary, books and movies in larger stores. But they've been around since 1792, so one of rhe first ever stores of its kind.

Crazy to think they went from their flagship Times Square location to... this. 😐

these feel like Macy's is just branding their toy department Toys R Us. they really should build a little Sephora style store to make it more legit

We still have TRU in Japan, and they’re crazy busy. The stores are clean and well-stocked (unlike the one near me when I lived in the US). Hamley’s (UK toy store) didn’t fare well during the pandemic because it’s very experience-based (display toys for kids to play with, performers, etc.). The one near us is now a giant gatchpon mall with a “child casino” (kids arcade, but my son calls it “child casino”).

Video games and consoles in-store is hugely unlikely. Macy's is struggling with theft and can barely keep their loss prevention teams staffed because of their extremely strict policies. One complaint (even from a known, documented shoplifter) and the whole team gets fired, then the store goes weeks or even months without LP at all.

I’ve been to the Macy’s in my mall which is currently dying and saw the Toys R Us area and the selection was really not the best, aside the FAO Schwarz toys it was mainly a lot of clearance items or toys that you could find in the Target of the opposite wing of my mall. Truly a depressing site for sure

The nostalgia flooded back when you brought up the lack of video games. That was my brother and my favorite part of going to Toys R Us back in the 80's, was checking out and TRYING OUT the new Nintendo games for that year. Hopefully they can resurrect Toys R Us to it's former glory. I saw a taxidermied giraffe at an oddity shop recently, and unfortunately the first thing I thought of was Geoffrey and the collapse of Toys R Us.

So many stores could comeback if they focused on just 3 things, online shopping, quality merch, and decent prices. In a world now with cheaply made toys and merchandise in general, I think a store selling top quality goods at decent prices with decent weekend sales with top quality website and online shopping experience with great in store experience would get people to come back to brick n mortar stores.

I think at some point in the future people will get tired of the online stuff and want physical stores again.

Toys-R-Us did try to relaunch with a few pilot mall stores, emphasizing the ability to play with toys before buying. This was planned as a way to separate it from the online buying experience. It probably would have worked, had they not launched just before the pandemic.

This is both sad and happy news that toysrus exists in some ways. Sure it will never be as big as it was back in 80s and 90s but if somehow it can bring kids happiness then I have no problem with it.

We still have full size Toys R Us stores in Canada, and they are still overpriced...you can have them.

Radio Shack has tried the store within a store as well, with limited success. 'Radio Shack Express' stores have been popping-up inside select Hobby Towne stores. They amount to a couple of aisles in the corner, with basic Radio Shack branded DIYer supplies & some minor tools. The remainder of the Radio Shack dealer/franchise stores are slowly closing in the Midwest. In Illinois, the Yorkville & Gibson City R.S. stores within Ace Hardware are gone. And rumor has it, that the Fairbury Radio Shack - a stand-alone store, is soon to be gone as well. This effectly eliminates all Radio Shack dealer/franchise stores, in Northern & Central Illinois. The next closest store is Monroe, Wisconsin. Hello Wisconsin! :p

I'm with you, opening Toys R Us standalone stores in malls might have been a smarter move, in addition I think trying to bring in stuff from other places that you can't get anywhere else might help. Of course I say that as someone who would love for there to be more places to find Gundam model kits and just more places to find import stuff in general.

I visited Japan recently and one day while visiting a mall I stumbled upon a Toys R Us / Babys R Us and was delighted to take a walk around. It was just as I remembered it stateside! There's just something special about walking around those long, tall corridors full of toys that pop with colors, sounds etc. While its nice to see these "pop-up" sections maintaining the brand, it just doesn't feel the same as the big box store itself. I hope the company that owns the IP now in the states sees the value in these locations again in the future. Obviously the bankruptcy had a lot to do with just too many stores that weren't profitable, so I think a handful of them instead could remain popular with today's consumers. Only time will tell. Thanks for making great videos!

The lack of video games is something I noticed immediately too! There also is a standalone Toys R Us store in the American Dream mall in NJ, but it also doesn’t have a video game section

I'm glad that Toys R Us is trying to come back, but the way they're doing it kind of makes me sad. They seem to have lost their magic. It isn't any better than the toy section in Kohl's.

There's a mall in New Jersey called The American Dream Mall and they actually have a two floored Toys R Us as its own store in the mall, I was there during the summer so it wasn't just a pop up shop for the holidays either

This isn't the first time the TRU brand was resurrected in the US. In 2019 they attempted to launch a smaller boutique similar to the store you showed at 7:35, but I think the pandemic nipped it in the bud, because the two experimental stores closed in early 2021. I visited the one inside the Houston Galleria a few times and it was really cool. Larger brands like Hasbro, Nintendo, and Nerf had their dedicated corners, while other toys were relegated with smaller shelving units. There was a big playground at the center and a creativity/party room in the back. The google page for the store is surprisingly still up for a neat look

the toys r us in wesley chapel fl was so big and i miss it so much 😭😭😭

These TRU in Macy's are just that, a toy section. Most that I've gone to seem to have older inventory (I'm talking pre-closure) with a small percentage of newer items. It seems that they are just testing the waters before taking the leap. With talks of many Macy's closing, I hope if all goes well, they opt to open a store within a mall/plaza like KayBee Toys.

Toy R Us was so good and delightful back in the 90's and early 00's. It would be hella wonderful to see Toy R Us come back for the Generation Alpha kids but this store looks nostalgic.

I feel sad my kids will never be able to experience a Toys R Us. The sheer quantity of toys there was just amazing to behold. I can still remember going through the Nintendo aisle, the GI Joe aisle, the bicycles, and the Legos. My kids freak out when we go to the Target toy aisles. I can't imagine what they would think if they got to visit a Target-sized toy store.

Oh, as for huge Toys R Us sized toy stores, there's an Irish toy store chain called Smyths that's exploded since the demise of toys r us, you might be seeing those in the US in the near future.

The one at Lakeside Mall here in Michigan was real nice! This one had a bench with Geoffrey the Giraffe sitting and you can pose with him!

The Toysrus shop in Macy's Herald Square actually does resemble an actual store within the store, having taken up part of the space in the Kids department. An archway was created by the entrance to make it feel like a separate space, has a few play areas, and for visuals, a recreation of the Thanksgiving Day Parade out of Lego bricks, complete with the facade on 34th Street, spectators, floats, and Batman as one of the guests. To my understanding, only a few locations within the chain have a bit more of the luxe feel, and Herald Square being the flagship, has extra. As for video games, there are none, and has had the song lyrics changed to "from bikes to trains to lots of games" to accommodate. The most the website sells is a handful of games online and a few basic small video games in the store.

I'm shocked at how empty the stores are, here in Australia where I live the shopping malls are always packed with people.

It's Ok I thought it would be bigger But it doesn't feel like Toys R Us, It feels like a Tempoarty Pop Up Toys R Us in Macy's. I doubt it will grown traffic into the Macy's Store

I’m glad to know the reason for Toys R Us closing wasn’t a lack of selling toys. I thought maybe kids were only playing with ipad / iphone which would have been pretty depressing. My best memories as a kid were choosing Christmas presents with my grandparents at Toys R Us. Toys R Us was where I bought Lunar 2 Eternal Blue Complete for PS1 back in the year 2000. ❤ As you said in the video, they did our boy Geoffrey the Giraffe dirty. ☹️

Love seeing the toys r us sign but hate how small it is hoping it would a been a pop up store killed my excitement the one in my macys brought me down on how small it was

As someone with young cousins and nieces, having this experience for them is great. But it’s even better for me.

I also visited the Toys R Us pop up in the Superstition Springs Mall Macy's the other day and unfortunately my excitement quickly wore off. As you mentioned a few times in the video, just didn't feel like a toy store. Felt more like a small toy section. Also, again as you mentioned, lack of video games/electronics was one of the first things I noticed. Hopefully something good can come from this though.

I was a teen mother with my first and I think I overcompensated the time that I spend at college, to get my degrees as fast as I could, to care for her, by buying too many toys. I legit went to Toysrus at least once a week and gifted my daughter toys constantly. But she never broke a single doll. She has a huge Lego collection now. We finally had our second baby and I wish so much, we could go with her to Toysrus some day. I loved bringing my older daughter there. And my husband loved building Lego Star Wars with her and still does to this day.

I did have a Toys R Us Oultet store in Potomac Mills Mall which also closed in 2018. Potomac Mills Mall is a Mills Corporation mall just like Arizona Mills Mall. Potomac Mills Mall opened in 1985 and it still doing well making it one of the older Mills malls in the country

I remember back in the 80's every department store had a toy department just like this. Sears, Penny, Broadway, Best, Mervyns's, Gottsxhalks...they all had 'em. Sears even had a candy counter.

Toys R Us is still thriving up here north of the broder!

If you have a chance, I’d absolutely visit a high volume Macy’s store to see how much better their big Toys R Us stores are. While Superstition is a large Macy’s, it isn’t a high-volume location.

Much appreciated. I'm always looking forward to your new videos!

Before the local Toys R Us store closed here in Southern California, the only reason I would go there is to buy video games. Without that, it's not much of a Toys R Us. If it was still a standalone store, it would have to keep up with the times, like offering video games, video game consoles, vr headsets, robots, etc..

Toys R Us should use Spirit Halloween's standalone pop-up model to start. Although that would likely lead to TRU pop-ups operating out of some of their former permanent locations.

I think thats definitely the way to go for retailers on anchor stores. Diversify the building to host smaller sections of stores. As well as offering some sort of kiosk to place an online order in each section to have it shipped if not available in store. As more and more corporations acquire smaller ones, it would be interesting to see this concept in fruition. Of course, there are many flaws to this idea but its hypothetical and fun to imagine.

When I was a kid in the early 90s, I remember going to SEARS when they had a video game "store within a store" kiosk booth in the store, and it was located in the back of the women's clothing section. I always thought that was odd, but as I grew older understanding how businesses strategize these "micro stores", it made perfect sense on why they did that and I think the same thing is going on here. The toys are there to keep your kids occupied while mom, auntie, or grandma can shop for clothes in peace.

thanks for making my friday better! love these vids

My mom and I went to the mall. We ate at a restaurant for the first time in two years. I got a Mocha made by a robot. I shopped for some shoes. We walked in through the Macys side. On the way out we got some hot wheels packs. Just something to make it feel like Christmas. I decided I’m not going to be such a stranger to the mall.

Honestly, and I really mean this thank you for preserving this history so many family shops from when i was a kid just don't have any footage and i wish i had more than just a memory of them

I recently went to Macys last month in two different malls, it’s just more of a toy department equivalent to Target, not the real TRU! I have mixed feelings about this, I like that our mall now has a toy store for once since its north block was closed down during the pandemic. But they could’ve used some vacant space to open a standalone store during the holidays, but I think the mall owners want more money for the bigger space, so Macys which is the biggest anchor in our mall can use its third floor or basement level for toys!

Love seeing these videos, I grew up going to Superstition Springs mall and Santan had just opened before I moved to california

As someone who has fond memories of getting video games and toys like TMNT action figures as a kid at Toy R Us, it's heartbreaking to see the brand reduced to a section at Macy's.

Pop Up Toy sections are pretty brilliant, especially for the holiday season. Glad toys r us could find a way into that market

The Macy's at my local mall was selling FAO Schwarz toys, in an unbranded toy section (not labeled as Toys R Us or anything like that), for last year's holiday season and Macy's had them for sale on their website as well (you can still find FAO Schwarz toys, all the same toys I saw in-store last year, on the Macy's website and they have been marked as Last Act). Also, there is a Toys R Us store at the American Dream Mall (it's a two story location that is apparently their global flagship store).

In the past few months, there's been a Toys R Us Mexico account on Instagram posting some photos and videos of Geoffrey teasing that they're coming to the country. They've never been in Mexico and even though malls and department stores are actually busy and healthy in here, I don't know how they're planning to make it work and if it's even true that they're indeed coming here. Local toy shop chains (Juguetron and Juguetibici) aren't exactly growing, and the biggest one (Merceria del Refugio) went bankrupt like a decade ago, though Hamley's opened a couple of stores and they seem to be doing fine, and FAO Schwartz has just opened a "store within a store" inside Palacio de Hierro, which is the most exclusive department store chain in Mexico.

The Macy's in downtown Chicago has a whole floor of toys and its also a Toys r Us pop up. It's fairly big!

Bain Capital stole our childhood away from us for a quick buck.

It's just branding for the Macy's toy department. If you expect more than that, you will be disappointed. They need to have video games though.

You used to be able to get toys at Toys R Us that weren't available anywhere else. I'm a big kid I loved just walking the store just to see cool toys. My one grandson got to go pick up his jeep at Toys R Us before they closed.

I saw the one in the Thousand Oaks CA store. They had it crammed, over-stuffed with merchandise practically toppling down from the shelves. They shoved the Toy R Us section sandwiched next to the Last Act dept., which is always a MESS in that store, clothes all over the floor and stuff. I wouldn't go near the scant Toys R Us displays for fear I'd knock everything over. Nobody was looking in there, it's just at the back of the store on the ground floor behind Housewares and nobody ever goes back there anyway.

"They did you dirty Geoffrey!" Rotf!

If Toys R Us managed to fund and open up just a handful of big stores in select cities like FAO Schwartz did, that would be awesome. One area that could benefit from one big toy store is definitely Boston Massachusetts.

I Can’t wait to do this again at Macy’s. Because Toys R Us has finally returned in the year 2022. I remember hearing the announcement that Toys R Us is now at Macy’s on TV last year and seeing the tease that Toys R Us with the iconic cartoon character that I use to remember in my brain is Geoffrey Giraffe. This was a dream come true for me after so long for Toys R Us after maybe 9 years of going to the most beloved Toy Store I’ve seen throughout my life, Toys R Us. *WELCOME BACK, TOYS R US!* 😇 😊

We still have Toy 'R Us stores in Canada and they're huge and packed with inventory, so it's a shame that the chain struggled in America which makes no sense other than due to how purchases from Amazon, eBay, Walmart, etc. must have killed it.

I was at Macys in maplewood and saw the toys r us at Macys quite fast. It definitely felt like the past, I even got an ornament from the store.

I just found your channel, Ive always loved malls like this. I hope you get a chance to do some videos of malls in the Midwest, particularly Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, there are some really great places there.

You said " who wants pool toys right before x-mas?"....Speak for yourself.... We here in the upper midwest would LOVE to be able to use pool toys in December!!! HA HA HA!!!!!

I think it’s kinda neat how they are trying to semi-resurrect it. However, being a 1985 baby, I remember the good old days of SNES, barbies, GI Joes, etc. I got a lot of my books from there too, when they had the smaller book section. Still have a ‘Carmen San Diego’ book from there I got around maybe 1993. Good times ❤️

Here in the uk we still have toys r us sized stores for toys. They are called Smyth’s and are doing super well because of their competitive prices and exclusive items.

Come up to Canada, Toys R Us is business as usual

Toys R Us in wherever Spirit shops are post-Halloween for the tail end of the year would be cool.

My local Macy’s in Cambridge Massachusetts closed a while back. I should go into the downtown Boston location to see if such a pop up is there. I would pick up a couple of things just for the nostalgia of it but I don’t think it’s a place I could Take somebody or spend the concentration of my purchases. Not in a pop-up store like that. But an outlet or a major toy store, absolutely I would bring people and spend the concentration of my purchases there. It would be a lot more reliable than seeing what Amazon sense to be quite frank

I have a feeling an overworked store manager is given this stuff and told to put it on display. So they just clear out a spot and put it out.

This was interesting thanks for sharing. Cool video. ^_^

I'm down in Casa Grande AZ where we have several dead strip malls, and they continue to build new ones which soon become full of dollar stores and furniture outlets. Our Dillards was rebranded as a clearance store similar to a Ross or Marshalls, and our Target lasted less than a decade. Also as a kid my family used to frequent the Toys R Us off of Ray road and the I10

I worked at Toy's R Us back in 2008. I still have my red button up work shirts with the logo on them. I was supposed to turn them in when I left but am glad I kept them now. xD

My folks would take me to greensboro nc location during the 90s, browsing gi joe toys, playing mario 64 on the demo station for the first time. When you we’re ready to buy a game getting the paper slip and taking it to the register. Sad they went away, but glad to see Jeffrey again.

That second location looks a lot like the toy section at a Kohl's before the doors open for the day.

i remember going here in 2018 in houston. and there coming back :)

Our local toys r us was connected to an indoor mall, but was a full size store. Many memories there.

FINALLY. I actually hope there is a toys r us in the mall near me! (It has a macy's)

In the 80s and 90s the only reason that I went into a Toys R Us was to buy video games and game consoles. I graduated High School in 1977, the year the Atari Video Computer System came out (aka the 2600). I would also sometimes go to Lionel Play World and KB Toys - to buy games and consoles.

"Nobody wants pool toys right before Christmas." Australians: 😆

"They did ya dirty, Geoffrey" - quote of the episode for sure ^^

We still have Toys R us here in Canada, and they no longer sell video games.

Same at Macy's at Crossroads mall in Kazoo it's on the second floor in the kids section not much when it comes to Toys R US which was across the street from Crossroads mall, which closed years before 2018 I'm thinking 2012 or 13 when they closed but not sure on that. Big Lots took the Toys R US building.

I’ve been going to Toys R Us for 10 years, 2008 to 2018. I went there to get my Thomas toys plus a bed, FNAF plushies, Mario games, etc. I went there the day before they closed after I heard the news. I was very sad after they closed. Now that they’re coming back, I’m more excited than ever. Even though I’m 15 years old, I don’t give a shit. I’m still excited!

I work at the flagship TRU at the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford NJ. Pretty big, and we have live magic demonstrations.

Welcome to the new trend of nostalgia flooding everything we will be involved with. Just look around and you'll have a flashback like Woody after he realizes he has become an old memory. The apocalaugh is amongst us. I predict return of the Noid, trans fats, and Disco

Even as a kid, Toys “R” Us felt like a dirty hell hole

8:57 those monster trucks in a toys r us!!! Gotta agree... i feel like this store will never return back to how it was

My Son And I Saw Toys R Us Reopen At Our Local Macy’s And My Son Was Excited To See It