Toys R Us is Back With Two New Stores and a Few Weird New Twists

America was collectively bummed out two years ago when the last of the Toys R Us stores closed down, and our childhood toy store “where a kid could be a kid” was no more. That didn’t last for long, though, as not too long after the shutdown, we started to hear buzz about investors who were looking to get the shops back up and running.

That dream is now a reality, as the first Toys R Us opened its doors this past weekend at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, New Jersey, with a second location opening next week at The Galleria in Houston, Texas. There are plans to have 10 stores in business by this time next year.

The company partnered with Target Stores to make this reinvention happen, which makes sense when considering the new layout of the store. Like in Target’s toy sections of their stores, the new Toys R Us is broken up into sections of popular toy brands. But in Toys R Us, you get a hands on experience where you can test out toys and receive guidance on gift buying from the toy pros, who are there to facilitate toy testing with kids and their parents.

Richard Barry, president and CEO of Tru Kids, who have opened the new store, was interviewed at the store’s opening, and said this of the new layout:

“We wanted to make sure that everywhere you turned in the store there was interactivity. We have an amazing number of digital experiences throughout the store, but we also have good old analog [experiences]. ... Take the products out of the boxes and kids will be able to get their hands on them.”

That sounds amazing! My kids would love to go there and have blast playing with all those toys. I can’t wait until the rest of the planned stores open and one makes its way out west. Are you excited for Toys R Us to return? What do you think of the new changes? Check out the images below, and let us know what you think.