Good news to all children and the child in all grown ups. Beloved toy superstore, Toys”R”Us is saved from being wiped from the face of the world. Now under a new ‘parent’, Tru Kids Brands, it has just open its first new U.S. retail store at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey.

A grand opening celebration will be held on November 30, Saturday at Garden State Plaza (GSP), featuring character appearances, giveaways and more. Following GSP, another Toys”R”Us store will open at The Galleria, a Simon Mall in Houston, Texas, on December 7, 2019.

Finally, the toy store with the infectious anthem “I don’t wanna grow, I want to be a Toys”R”Us kid” that left me stuck in the state of my childhood will continue to do so. Online shopping is cool, but lets face it, there is nothing like being able to handle the toys that you are going to buy.

Toys R Us Reopens In U.S. Under New Company
A render of a storefront published during the announcement in July.

But it won’t be the Toys”R”Us that you and I remember (good’ol Geoffrey the Giraffe has stuck around, btw). It is more now, It will be a playground for kids too.

More importantly, the stores have interactive hand-on play experiences offered by featured brand partners like Hasbro, LEGO, Melissa & Doug, MGA Entertainment, Nintendo, Schleich, Spin Master and VTech.

On top of all those, there will be a thing known as Play-A-Round Theater, an open event space where guests, young and old, can learn and discover together.

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As part of the rebranding, sales associates are now known as Toy Geniuses. Just kidding! They are not called Toy Geniuses. They are known as Play Pro.

While brick and mortar stores are a major part of Toys”R”Us experience, online shopping is also part of the fabric of the new toy superstore.

Here’s how online shopping is going play out:

“For customers who wish to purchase items not available in store, interactive touchscreen displays are available throughout the store, providing the ability to browse and discover a deeper assortment of product through the newly launched ToysRUs.com website, which is powered by Target.  When a customer is ready to check out at the digital display, they can select to scan a QR code or send themselves a text or email with a link to the product page on ToysRUs.com. When consumers click “Buy Now at Target.com,” they’re automatically linked to the same product page on Target.com to complete their purchase.”

So, there you have it. The iconic toy store lives on, but for how long more remains to be seen. I am not skeptical, but the fact is, the foothold of online shopping is getting stronger by the day and so it is really hard to say. Here’s hoping that it will continue serving us for years to come.

Images: Tru Kids Brands.

Published by Mike

Avid tech enthusiast, gadget lover, marketing critic and most importantly, love to reason and talk.