Toys ‘R’ Us outlet in Windsor attracting American customers
Canadian stores filling void with buyers after chain goes belly up south of border
Americans won’t be able to visit a Toys ‘R’ Us for the first time since the 1950s, but Michigan shoppers are increasingly turning to the Canadian company ’s Windsor outlet to satisfy their need to visit one of the iconic brands of their youth. “We’re seeing a lot of U.S. customers at our border stores,” said Melanie Teed-Murch, president of Toys ‘R’ Us Canada and Babies ‘R’ Us Canada.
“There’s still a great craving for this franchise in the U.S. “Some people order online and some come to pick up at the stores.” Teed-Murch said the firm, now a stand-alone Canadian company owned by Fairfax Holdings, has been tracking its U.S. customer base carefully since re-launching in the spring.
A growing list of Americans registering in its loyalty program and the dozens of calls Windsor staff field each day from Michigan confirm the brand has retained its lustre across the border. “They grew up with Toys ‘R’ Us and they’re telling us how much they miss having stores,” TeedMurch said.
Unlike its bankrupt U.S. parent, which closed the last of its stores in June, the Canadian branch of the company has always been profitable.
Toys ‘R’ Us Canada made over $100-million in profit in each of the past nine years, but a significant portion of that was being siphoned off by its U.S. operations. The Canadian company has incurred substantial restructuring costs, such as creating its own IT department, but Teed-Murch said the firm would be profitable again this year.
“I think we’ll soon be back on the trajectory we’ve previously had,” Teed-Murch said.
Her visit to Windsor this week was to support a shopping spree for a local boy through the company’s affiliation with Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada, but also to get the word out that Toys ‘R’ Us Canada is still operating as normal.
The 45,000-square-foot Windsor store perennially finishes in the top 20 in sales in the 82-store Canadian chain.
The company employs 5,000 people across Canada.
“One out of two Canadians doesn’t know we’re still around after the U.S. operations closed up,” said Teed-Murch, who started as a store manager with the chain 22 years ago in Kitchener. Having nearly been dragged down with its U.S. parent, the company is now refurbishing its stores and adding new wrinkles such as community rooms for use for birthday parties. Teed-Murch said offering programs aimed at young families, such as safety in the home or lactation education, is also in the works. The Windsor store is on the company’s final list for a community room and programming.
The firm has also begun to open 10,000 to 20,000-square-foot stores in smaller communities. The first such outlet opened recently in Guelph. Teed-Murch said the company will re-design its online presence over the next year and is improving in-store experiences by using online services within stores. Being able to pay through a portable device in the aisles, avoiding lining up, is one such example.
“We have to be adaptable and adjust to maintain relationships with families,” Teed-Murch said. Anticipating customers’ needs when it comes to the holiday season’s toy selection is a process started a year ago by the company ’s buyers.
Among this year’s popular new items are Mega Construx’s Breakout Beasts and U.K.-based Worlds Apart’s Scruff-a-luvs. Breakout Beasts are a collection of five different slime-filled plastic eggs containing the parts to make an action figure.
The slime can be stored in the egg.
A Scruff-a-luv is a matted ball of fur that requires a bath, drying and brushing that turns it into a well-groomed dog, cat or rabbit. The company is donating a portion of each sale to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
“It’s a toy that’s aimed at teaching empathy,” Teed-Murch said. Also making comebacks in popularity are old standbys like board games, Tickle Me Elmo, Polly Pockets, Beyblades and Connect Four Slots.
“This is a strange year because there’s not been a real hot item,” Teed-Murch said. “There’s been a resurgence in classic toys that encourage basic family time together.”