Polaris pop-up selling toys in old Toys R Us

The Toys R Us and Babies R Us store at 1400 Gemini Place in Columbus may have closed in June, but the location is back in the business of fun and games.

Party City has launched a temporary Toy City site alongside a Halloween City pop-up store in the building, one of approximately 50 new Toy City pop-up stores around the country.

The Toy City and Halloween City pop-ups will operate through the holiday season, according to a statement from Party City.

“The creation of a Toy City concept to complement our temporary seasonal retail strategy is a logical extension of our brand, one that will allow us to leverage our existing pop-up store capabilities and capitalize on the category white space that has recently been created,” said CEO James M. Harrison.

In addition to operating more than 900 stores in the United States and Canada, Party City has been running temporary Halloween City locations for the past decade. The Halloween pop-ups made opening Toy City pop-ups easier because the company already hires seasonal workers and leases locations.

Party City’s Toy City Party City has launched Toy City pop-up sites alongside its Halloween City stores in locations across the country, including an old Toys R Us/Babies R Us location at Gemini Place at Polaris. pop-up openings come as multiple retailers have raced to fill the gap left by the

demise earlier this year of Toys R Us.

Toys R Us struggled with debt and changing retail habits, but even as bankruptcy approached, the chain was ringing up $ 11 billion in annual sales. Other retailers are going after those sales. Walmart, Amazon, Target, Kohl’s, J.C. Penney and other players including smaller independent toy stores and crafts retailer Michaels have expanded their toy offerings.

This week, a bankruptcy court filing scrapped the auction to sell Toys R Us assets, raising the prospect that investors would try to salvage the brand.