WHP Global Now Owns Toys R Us and Plans to Open Stores Again

When Toys R Us filed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy in fall 2017, many long-time customers were surprised, and the once commonplace stores started to disappear from shopping centers quickly. Now, the brand is under new ownership, and stores will start to open again soon.

New Ownership

WHP Global now has a controlling interest in Tru Kids. Tru Kids is the parent company of both Toys R Us and the related retailer Babies R Us, along with Geoffrey the Giraffe. Tru Kids had bought those brands and their intellectual property in September 2017 after the bankruptcy filings. What

WHP Global Says

WHP Global’s chief executive officer and chairman, Yehuda Shmidman, says that the company is “in the brand business.” He pointed to the credibility, trust, and love associated with the Toys R Us brand. Given the popularity of toys in the last year and the current “blank canvas” of the United States, WHP Global decided it would be wise to take advantage of the situation.

The Plans

In March 2021, WHP Global announced that it would open some new Toys R Us stores in the country. The company hopes to have at least some of these open by the holiday season.

WHP Global will be in charge of managing the Tru Kids businesses globally and its expansion plans.

There are currently 900 Babies R Us and Toys R Us stores in over 25 countries around the world. The new efforts to open stores will begin in North America. WHP Global does not have a concrete number of stores it hopes to open.

The company recognizes that these will likely include a range of formats. In addition to flagships, there will be mini-stores within other retailers, pop-ups, and airport locations. The company may look at spaces in the malls that still have traffic but will not focus overly much on malls, as it recognizes many will close soon.

Previous Efforts by Tru Kids

Tru Kids did try various methods to take advantage of the Toys R Us name but without much success. One of these efforts was creating two pop-up locations. However, poor mall traffic, worsened by the pandemic, meant they had to close.

There was also a brief period when Target ran the Toys R Us website. Before WHP Global’s purchase, the website was still functional but redirected purchases to Amazon.

The efforts to revive Toys R Us were largely hampered by the company’s restructuring and the pandemic.

Sources:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/15/whp-global-takes-controlling-stake-in-toys-r-us-plans-to-open-stores.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/03/15/toys-r-us-to-reopen-us-stores-under-new-owners/?sh=34f674f7279b