Jump to content

New TRU Megastore Coming To NJ Later This Month?!?


JayC

Recommended Posts

In what seems to have become a yearly thing since Toys R' Us first declared bankruptcy and closed all it's doors here in the US back in 2018, I bring you a post about how the once famous toy retailer is planning on making a come back with a new store. Most recently it was announced they were partnering up with Macy's Department Stores to carry a limited number of toy related products in 400 of their stores across America as well as online, which has already started to happen. Still it's a far cry from the Toys R' Us heyday when they had over 800 large stores open here in the US.

In 2019 the organization called Tru Kids Brand had purchased the rights to the Toys R Us name and opened two small stores in malls located in Houston, Texas, and Paramus, New Jersey. Those stores were short-lived and closed their doors a year later with the COVID pandemic being given as the reason why.

Now WHP Global, who is the current parent company of Toys"R"Us is announcing plans to open a two-level, 20,000 square foot flagship store in New Jersey. Specifically the store will be opened inside American Dream, an entertainment/retail center in Bergen County, New Jersey. According to the press release they put out yesterday, this flasgship store is slated to open later this month. See the press release below:

 

Press Release:

WHP Global, parent company of Toys"R"Us®, announces the forthcoming grand opening of a new two-story Toys"R"Us flagship store inside American Dream, the unmatched entertainment/retail center in Bergen County, New Jersey.

Designed for 'Toys"R"Us kids' of all ages, the first U.S. Toys"R"Us flagship store will feature a modern two-level retail concept that spans 20,000 square feet. The flagship will be reminiscent of the beloved toy store customers know and love, as visitors can shop their favorite toy brands, meet Geoffrey the Giraffe, rediscover their love of play with interactive experiences and product demonstrations, and enjoy new branded elements like Geoffrey's Café and ice cream parlor, two-story slide and more. Located within steps of Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park and DreamWorks Water Park, the new flagship is at the epicenter of American Dream's premiere entertainment, shopping and dining experiences.

"American Dream is a one-of-a-kind unrivaled retail center featuring massive entertainment experiences that make it an ideal destination for families. Debuting our first Toys"R"Us flagship here is a no-brainer," said Yehuda Shmidman, WHP Global and Toys"R"Us Chairman and CEO. "The Toy"R"Us brand is big and growing fast. Today we have over 900 stores and e-commerce sites operating across 25 countries outside the USA, and now our USA expansion plans are in high gear, propelling us into the next chapter of growth for our global brand."

Opening mid-December, just in time for the 2021 holiday shopping season, the Toys"R"Us flagship at American Dream marks the return of the first standalone flagship store of the iconic and beloved toy brand in the USA. This comes on the heels of Toys"R"Us opening its digital flagship store this year together with Macy's and with over 400 Toys"R"Us shop-in-shops slated to open inside Macy's stores nationwide starting in 2022.

"American Dream is a world-class destination with one-of-a-kind experiences and first-to-market entertainment/retail concepts, designed to delight a multi-generational audience," said Don Ghermezian, CEO of American Dream. "Toys"R"Us sparks the same feeling of joy across multiple age groups. This powerful brand is the perfect addition to American Dream's all-star lineup of entertainment properties and attractions. We're thrilled to partner with WHP Global and Toys"R"Us to bring this project to life."

The Toys"R"Us flagship at American Dream will open its doors in mid-December with extended holiday hours. To keep updated on the flagship grand opening and 2022 store openings, visit toysrus.com and follow @toysrus on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok.

TRU-Megastore.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I never had a reason too but did anyone ever check out the so-called "Toys R' Us" stores in Macy?  Was it like a small hole in the wall or did Macy put some pride into the store?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As we told you last week, Toys R' Us is planning on opening a brand new Mega-Store later this month in New Jersey which would be the first large TRU store to open here in the United States since closing all it's stores back in 2018. While it remains to be seen how impressive this new store will actually be or how well stocked it will be, I doubt it will compare with the golden years of the company which many would argue is in the 80's and early 90s.

For those who don't remember what it was like to walk into a toy store and actually find product on the shelves, we recommend you check out this video online which is a walk-through tour of a Toys R' Us store in NYC circa November 27, 1991.
 

 



While I would argue 1991 was on the tail end of the Golden Age of action figures, you can see the pegs are full with the likes of TMNT and WWE figures. You will also note at one point in the video we see a huge big pile of Technodrome playests with Hasbro's G.I. Joe Brawler vehicles on top. Of course this was at the beginning of the Holiday shopping season when places like TRU would always make sure to have the most product on hand, but its a far cry from anything you will see today from TRU or any other major retail toy section.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mightve been the golden age of finding action figures in the wild but I do not believe it was the golden age of action figures in general. We are only getting better figures and a much crazier selection of them, we just have to buy them online now as opposed to just going to a store and always finding them. I mean we have friggin figures of cereal characters! I have actual fighting game figures that up until now were only in my dreams and some impressive comic accurate comic book figures among many many other types. It does suck that we cant just go out to a store and always find what we are looking for but its just as easy now to just go to a site and order... unless its an army builder or something on hasbro pulse/NECA... :(... but for the most part we can still obtain most figures that we want these days. And dont get me wrong, I do miss my childhood of walking into a toy store and seeing a plethora of figures i wanted. It is sad what has happened to toy stores since then as well as other things that just faded out (i.e. Arcades, etc.). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Earlier this month we told you how Toys R' Us was planning on opening a new 20,000 square feet flagship store inside American Dream, the entertainment/retail center in Bergen County, New Jersey. Well this weekend they opened their doors for that store and are planning a big grand-opening for this coming Tuesday, 12/21/22.

Toys-R-Us-00.jpg

Toys-R-Us-01.jpg

Toys-R-Us-02.jpg

Toys-R-Us-03.jpg

Toys-R-Us-04.jpg

Toys-R-Us-05.jpg

Toys-R-Us-06.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The reality is this store is mostly for show. It's cool to see and certainly hits the ol' nostalgia spot but my guess is there is nothing in that store you wouldn't find in any Walmart or Target. In fact Walmart's and Target's are likely to have more.

TRU has no buying power anymore with the toy manufactures and it's hard to see how they would ever get that back and ever be able to really compete with the likes of Target, Amazon and Walmart. In TRU's hay day they had over 700 large stores in this country which allowed them to leverage exclusives and if TRU carried a toyline, especially around the Holidays it could actually make or break a toyline. That is no longer the case. Towards the end, even with 700 stores TRU found it very difficult to compete with Walmart and Target which had long ago surpassed TRU's buying power for toys. Walmart currently has 4,743 stores in the US and Target has 1,926.

The only thing TRU has going for it is name recognition and nostalgia, which may if they are lucky allow them to eek buy with one store and a small presence at places like Macy's (which in of itself is a struggling dying breed or retail store).  But anyone expecting TRU to return in any real way I think is dreaming.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

100% with everything you have said in your article Jay.  Personally, I feel like trus needs to really learn from past mistakes or it's all quite pointless. I want to see tons of trus stores again so it frustrates me that they still don't get it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've given up on brick and mortar store because it's just not worth it anymore.  Between stores that mainly take forever to get new product on the shelves and certain employees cracking cases in the back so they can fill their collection or pocket when they are scalping the goods on eBay.  Let's also throw in the price of gas in today's economy.  I'm paying $3.11 a gallon right now and I'll be wasting at least a few gallons of gas, plus wear and tear on my car, plus dealing with moron drives and idiot shoppers.  You can keep it and I'll stick with online sites and have the product sent directly to my home and pay either a few bucks for shipping or even get it free shipping.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/20/2021 at 3:32 AM, JayC said:

The reality is this store is mostly for show. It's cool to see and certainly hits the ol' nostalgia spot but my guess is there is nothing in that store you wouldn't find in any Walmart or Target. In fact Walmart's and Target's are likely to have more.

TRU has no buying power anymore with the toy manufactures and it's hard to see how they would ever get that back and ever be able to really compete with the likes of Target, Amazon and Walmart. In TRU's hay day they had over 700 large stores in this country which allowed them to leverage exclusives and if TRU carried a toyline, especially around the Holidays it could actually make or break a toyline. That is no longer the case. Towards the end, even with 700 stores TRU found it very difficult to compete with Walmart and Target which had long ago surpassed TRU's buying power for toys. Walmart currently has 4,743 stores in the US and Target has 1,926.

The only thing TRU has going for it is name recognition and nostalgia, which may if they are lucky allow them to eek buy with one store and a small presence at places like Macy's (which in of itself is a struggling dying breed or retail store).  But anyone expecting TRU to return in any real way I think is dreaming.

Oh not true Jay, I have never seen quite a selection of Playmobil, Schleich, or Bruder toys anywhere else!  It is interesting to see many German brand toys there.
It would really be in toy companies best interests if they bought stock in or were part partners with Toys R Us just to dilute the power Walmart has over them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jay C, your editorial is spot on and I could not agree more. As an adult collector, i would check the TRU shelves about once a month only to find the same old selections collecting dust.

The last best find I ever got out of my local TRU was an early wave of the 6 inch black series that contained the first Stormtrooper. I went in to specifically look for this wave a several times in a 2 week span. On the third visit still nothing new on the pegs and as I was walking out I saw a worker's push cart sitting in an unused check out lane between two registers at the end of the row where employees would just throw returns that were to go back on the shelves. I caught a glimpse of a black series box sitting in the bottom section of it and moved in to see what figure it was. It was the stormtrooper.

No doubt there was a TRU employee who collected or knew someone who collected. This also explained why it was rare to find anything I was looking for at this store.

But this time he got careless. I figured he put it aside for himself or someone else and even though it was not on the peg, it was still fair game as it was still in the store. Time to turn the tables. I picked it up off the cart and went straight to an open register, made the purchase and never looked back.

I always wished I could have seen his face when he search his cart or wonder if he ever went as far to check their security footage to see who got it.

Anyway that was a long time ago and I have adjusted to paying a little more for the things I collect by getting them thru internet store like the ones that support this platform instead of fruitless local searches when gas is at 3 bucks a gallon. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...
On 12/6/2021 at 7:46 AM, JayC said:

As we told you last week, Toys R' Us is planning on opening a brand new Mega-Store later this month in New Jersey which would be the first large TRU store to open here in the United States.... "While it remains to be seen how impressive this new store will actually be or how well stocked it will be, I doubt it will compare with the golden years of the company which many would argue is in the 80's and early 90s"

Absolutely agreed. The Golden years. Oh how I miss this Heavenly space. I imagine it would be monumental, just for the sheer mental health healing🙂🙂😻😻

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sometimes I feel like we are beating an old Geoffrey... Bring him back, take him away, bring him back, take him away.  Stop messing with Geoffrey!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Outsiders said:

Sometimes I feel like we are beating an old Geoffrey... Bring him back, take him away, bring him back, take him away.  Stop messing with Geoffrey!

ZOMBIE Geoffrey!!!
This time I think it will work better since Macy's never really had any toys(well they dropped them a long time ago).
I haven't even checked on JC Penney's toy departments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Back in mid-July we told you how Toys R' Us and Macy's had put the word out that they planned to have TRU pop-up stores in every Macy's Department store by October of this year.

Since then however, I have seen a number of corporate media sites running what I would consider to be click-bait articles like this one on Fox News with a headline proclaiming TRU will reopen in 9 states while showing off an image of an old TRU stand-alone store. Basically making folks think that the TRU of old was set to make a return here in the United States this year.
 

While no one would like to see the Toys R' Us stand-alone stores of old return than me, sadly that is not what is happening right now. The new Toys R' Us is simply expanding upon what they had started to do last year by opening up much smaller pop-up stores within Macy's department stores, basically trying to capitalize on parents doing their holiday toy shopping while also shopping for other things that one might normally come to Macy's for.

You can see images below in our GALLERY of what these Pop-up locations look like below if you have yet to see one for yourselves. These are official images released by Macy's.

For exactly what is happening, here is the exact quote from the press release put out in July by Macy's in regards to all of this:

Macy’s expands partnership with WHP Global to bring the beloved Toys“R”Us brand to every Macy’s store in America this holiday season. Beginning late July and rolling out through October 15th, the in-store shops will range from 1,000 sq. feet and span up to 10,000 sq. feet in flagship locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco. The footprint of stores may flex up an additional 500 to3,000 sq. feet during the holiday season to offer an even wider assortment of products.



So there will be some "Flagship" locations opening up which is where some of those corporate media sites got their "9" new stores opening up for their click bait headlines. These will simply be pop-up stores within Macy's that will be a bit larger than most of the other Pop Up stores, but again these are not new stand-alone stores in any way. There actually will be a total of 11 of these "Flagship" locations at the following Macy's come October:

•Lenox Square, Atlanta
•State Street, Chicago
•Ala Moana, Honolulu
•Memorial City, Houston
•South Coast Plaza, LA
•Aventura, Miami
•Dadeland, Miami
•Herald Square, NYC
•Roosevelt Field, NYC
•Union Square, San Francisco
•Valley Fair, San Jose


As of mid July of this year, these are all the Macy's stores that currently have Toys R' Us Pop Up stores in them:


California

Shoppes At Carlsbad - Carlsbad

Los Cerritos Center - Cerritos

Chula Vista Center - Chula Vista

Serramonte - Daly City

Downey Stonewood Center - Downey

North County Fair (Ca) - Escondido

Fresno Fashion Fair - Fresno

Shops At River Park - Fresno

Montclair Plaza - Montclair

Plaza Bonita - National City

Antelope Valley - Palmdale

Stanford (Ca) - Palo Alto

San Bernardino Inland Center - San Bernardino

Fashion Valley (Ca) - San Diego

Oakridge (Ca) - San Jose

Hillsdale (Ca) - San Mateo

Santa Ana Mainplace - Santa Ana

Stockton Sherwood - Stockton

Visalia - Visalia

Walnut Creek Broadway Plaza - Walnut Creek

Westminster (Ca) - Westminster

Connecticut

Stamford Town Center - Stamford

District of Columbia

Metro Center (Downtown Dc) - Washington

Georgia

Cumberland - Atlanta

Peachtree - Columbus

Northlake (Ga) - Atlanta

Illinois

Louis Joliet - Joliet

Louisiana

Acadiana - Lafayette

Mall Of Louisiana - Baton Rouge

Maryland

Annapolis - Annapolis

Lakeforest (Md) - Gaithersburg

Missouri

Mid Rivers - Saint Peters

South County (Mo) - Saint Louis

Battlefield (Mo) - Springfield

Chesterfield (Mo) - Chesterfield

New Jersey

Newport Centre (Nj) - Jersey City

Brunswick Square - East Brunswick

Nevada

Henderson Galleria At Sunset - Henderson

Summerlin - Las Vegas

Texas

La Plaza - Mcallen

New York

Parkchester - Bronx

Hampton Bays - Hampton Bays

Sunrise (Ny) - Massapequa

And then by the end of October of this year you should be able to find TRU Pop-Up stores at Macy's in the following loacations:

Alabama

Riverchase Galleria - Hoover

Arizona

Biltmore Fashion Park - Phoenix

Chandler Fashion Center - Chandler

California

Newport Fashion Island - Newport Beach

Century City (Ca) - Los Angeles

West Covina - West Covina

Roseville Galleria - Roseville

Sherman Oaks Fashion Square - Sherman Oaks

Fairfield Solano - Fairfield

Arden Fair - Sacramento

The Shops At Montebello - Montebello

Brea (Ca) - Brea

Burbank Town Center - Burbank

Glendale Galleria - Glendale

Del Amo Fashion Center - Torrance

Topanga - Canoga Park

Santa Anita - Arcadia

Sacramento Downtown Commons - Sacramento

Connecticut

Connecticut Post - Milford

Shoppes At Buckland Hills - Manchester

Trumbull - Trumbull

Florida

Miami International - Doral

Georgia

Arbor Place - Douglasville

Illinois

Oakbrook Center - Oak Brook

Woodfield - Schaumburg

St. Clair Square - Fairview Hghts

Old Orchard - Skokie

Gurnee Mills - Gurnee

Kansas

Town Center Plaza (Ks) - Leawood

Massachusetts

Square One - Saugus

South Shore Plaza (Ma) - Braintree

Maryland

Bowie Town Center - Bowie

Mall At Prince Georges - Hyattsville

Security Square - Baltimore

Michigan

Meridian (Mi) - Okemos

The Crossroads (Mi) - Portage

New Hampshire

Mall At Rockingham Park - Salem

New Jersey

Willowbrook (Nj) - Wayne

Cherry Hill - Cherry Hill

Bridgewater Commons - Bridgewater

Garden State Plaza - Paramus

New Mexico

Coronado Center (Nm) - Albuquerque

Nevada

Las Vegas Fashion Show - Las Vegas

New York

Galleria At Crystal Run - Middletown

Staten Island - Staten Island

Manhasset - Manhasset

Colonie Center - Albany

Walden Galleria - Buffalo

Kings Plaza - Brooklyn

Cross County Sc (Ny) - Yonkers

Queens Center - Elmhurst

Oregon

Clackamas Town Center - Clackamas

Washington Square (Or) - Tigard

Pennsylvania

Willow Grove Park - Willow Grove

South Carolina

Haywood - Greenville

Texas

Almeda - Houston

Cielo Vista - El Paso

While I can't speak to all these locations, I will note the one listed at Lakeforest Mall in MD won't be there for long being that entire mall is slated to soon be bulldozed in favor of a retail/residential model that has become much more popular than your traditional Malls in that area.

As for stand-alone stores, Toys R' Us did open one last year as their true "Flagship" store with a two-level, 20,000 square foot location in their home state of New Jersey, specifically inside American Dream, an entertainment/retail center in Bergen County, New Jersey. That is probably as close as your going to get to experiencing a TRU of old here in the US.

TRU-Macys0.jpg

TRU-Macys1.jpg

TRU-Macys2.jpg

TRU-Macys3.jpg

TRU-Macys4.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My biggest concern is the possibility of Toys R Us only exclusives again...this time with even less access. There are no Macy's in my state (WV) and there never will be. I at least had 2 Toys R Us within 120 miles to give me false hope in finding their exclusives.

Toys R Us in general is a tainted brand in my eyes. While they do not have full responsibility, they share blame in the way they axed their employees and worked with Bain Capital to basically buy them out, gut the resources/stock they had, give higher ups bonuses, screw the employees and let it die. Vulture capitalism at its finest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hard to believe that Toys R Us is only in Houston & El Paso Macy's stores in Texas. Dallas/Ft. Worth, Austin, & San Antonio are such large markets, it seems they are missing their mark in opportunities. Very odd. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, rono said:

Hard to believe that Toys R Us is only in Houston & El Paso Macy's stores in Texas. Dallas/Ft. Worth, Austin, & San Antonio are such large markets, it seems they are missing their mark in opportunities. Very odd. 

Oh I agree there are some locations missing in Illinois too

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Find Action Figures on Ebay

×
×
  • Create New...
Sign Up For The TNI Newsletter And Have The News Delivered To You!


Entertainment News International (ENI) is the #1 popular culture network for adult fans all around the world.
Get the scoop on all the popular comics, games, movies, toys, and more every day!

Contact and Support

Advertising | Submit News | Contact ENI | Privacy Policy

©Entertainment News International - All images, trademarks, logos, video, brands and images used on this website are registered trademarks of their respective companies and owners. All Rights Reserved. Data has been shared for news reporting purposes only. All content sourced by fans, online websites, and or other fan community sources. Entertainment News International is not responsible for reporting errors, inaccuracies, omissions, and or other liablities related to news shared here. We do our best to keep tabs on infringements. If some of your content was shared by accident. Contact us about any infringements right away - CLICK HERE