Backstage at Macy’s, Toys R Us waiting in the wings for 2022
In the latest ballyhooed comeback for Toys R Us, Macy’s will set aside space for toy stores in more than 400 of its department stores nationally.
A Macy’s spokesperson said the company is not yet sharing a list of planned locations for Toys R Us departments. As of mid-August, Macy’s listed just over 500 stores in all.
Macy’s has Connecticut department stores at the Connecticut Post, Danbury Fair, Stamford Town Center, Westfield Trumbull, Westfarms and The Shoppes at Buckland Hills malls. Macy’s parent company also operates Bloomingdale’s, which has a department store at The SoNo Collection mall in South Norwalk.
The large majority of new Toys R Us stores will not arrive in time for the 2021 holiday shopping season, but could provide a boost for Macy’s and mall traffic next year and beyond, whether for spurof-the-moment buys or as part of the holiday shopping rounds.
And for any parents wanting to walk down memory lane with kids in tow who have never experienced a Toys R Us aisle, it will provide an option to approximate the vibe if not duplicating the big-box vistas of Toys R Us in its heyday.
The companies have already launched a Toys R Us link on the Macy’s website, with Toys R Us having its own e-commerce site active at www.toysrus.com.
Macy’s did not state immediately how much floor space it will set aside for Toys R Us, and what departments would see space pared to make room for the new toy departments. Macy’s has recent experience in the “store within a store” concept, having carved out chunks of space in department stores nationally for its Macy’s Backstage brand.
Macy’s Backstage toy sales emboldened Macy’s to go bigger with the Toys R Us partnership, according to Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette, who spoke about the joint venture Thursday on a conference call.
“It was an opportunity for us to look at, ‘hey, what’s the entry category for Toys R Us kids that are now millennial parents and an opportunity for us ... to go after this category a lot more,” Gennette said. “Those footsteps or those eyeballs will translate into other purchasing.”
Toys R Us went bankrupt in 2018, closing Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores in Danbury, Milford and Norwalk. The latter location was taken over by Bob’s Discount Furniture, with Ocean State Job Lot opening this spring at a former Toys R Us in Danbury.
The Parsippany, N.J.-based company’s former CEO Richard Barry attempted to revive the brand in advance of the 2019 holidays by opening pop-up stores in Paramus, N.J. and Houston, but did not move forward with a broader roll-out.
This past March, New York City-based WHP Global acquired the Toys R Us and Babies R Us brands. WHP CEO Yehuda Shmidman served on the board of Tru Kids Brands that attempted the prior Toys R Us revival. WHP is backed by Oaktree Capital, a private equity investment firm with offices in New York City and Stamford.
Since the bricks-and-mortar demise of Toys R Us, Walmart and Target have filled the void of local “big box” toy retailer with large departments that nevertheless lack the store selection of Toys R Us in its heyday. Many Connecticut cities and towns have independent toy stores that have absorbed some of the business that might have gone to Toys R Us, though Amazon continues to siphon off many shoppers.
“People have gotten very used to shopping online, ... even more so in the past year,” said Dina Berger, owner of Age of Reason in Westport. “People say, ‘I never could have found this online’ — then take a picture and order it online.”
A few toy chains brought forward fresh concepts the past few years in an attempt to create a new dynamic in stores, including at The SoNo Collection where Camp opened in 2019 with a hidden maze of aisles and offering experiential “camps” with varying activities.
And Lego, which has its U.S. headquarters in Enfield and mall stores at Danbury Fair and Westfarms, debuted a larger concept store this year on Fifth Avenue in New York City focused on experiential play, with the intent of opening as many as 100 more.
Another option could be in the offing, after the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Amazon is weighing larger format department stores to sell a range of goods and handle returns. The company has an Amazon 4-star store at The SoNo Collection that includes a small selection of toys among best-selling items from its website.