Toys R Us Chapter 11 Again
Toys 'R' U.s.a. Tries to Come Back, Four Years After Bankruptcy
The retailer, which had closed all its U.Due south. stores, has resurfaced at the American Dream mall in New Jersey, just in time for the holidays.
Geoffrey the Giraffe at the opening of the Toys "R" Us at the American Dream mall in E Rutherford, Northward.J., this week. Credit... Clark Hodgin for The New York Times
EAST RUTHERFORD, Northward.J. — It was xi a.yard. six days earlier Christmas, and a security guard in a bulletproof vest eyed 120 masked customers standing in line at the entrance to the newest retailer at the American Dream mall: Toys "R" United states of america.
When workers slid open 2 side gates, shoppers surged in. Lauryn Dankin, 10, walking with her mother, Caren, grabbed a blue cart and was greeted by a sign:
"Detect: Staircase is non attainable withal."
Neither the cafe nor the slide that starts on the 2d floor and falls to the first was ready for customers. Lauryn walked past a magician practicing sleight of hand and approached Carl Zealer, who was working through a trick involving a worm on a string.
"I take a question," she said. "Is that static, or is it all an illusion?"
"It's illusion," Mr. Zealer said.
"Ohhhh," Lauryn said. "I simply couldn't tell."
Toys "R" Us tin confound, too. 4 years later on filing for Chapter xi bankruptcy protection and 3 years since closing its 735 stores, the make that Charles Lazarus started in 1957 has been raised from the dead in time for final-minute vacation shopping. Its commencement new store and the mall, in East Rutherford, North.J., are betting on the strength of nostalgia's grip, hoping that a familiar retail name will attract shoppers who are increasingly accustomed to doing their buying online. Toys "R" Us is planning to follow the opening of the American Dream store with hundreds of mini locations inside Macy's stores over the next year.
"We sat down and were like: 'Nosotros need a toy store! Nosotros believe in a toy shop!'" said Paul Ghermezian, a developer whose company, Triple 5, owns American Dream. "We want a brand that drives you lot to come for more than something modest."
Paradigm
While the lyrics to the store's memorable theme song ("I'm a Toys "R" U.s.a. kid!") were painted on the steps, the music heard past American Dream shoppers had been remixed by new owners. On shelves, 10,000 toys ranged from silly (putty) to sophisticated (The New Yorker cover jigsaw puzzles). One board game — Mall Madness — was especially meta. The proper noun seemed to evoke both retail'south struggles during the pandemic and the nightmare that American Dream faced three months ago when its sixteen-story indoor ski gradient, Big Snowfall, caught burn overnight.
Withal, devotees came to conduct witness to the latest retail revival.
"This has got to exist heaven," said Tynisha Twenty-four hours, 44, who woke upwards at vii a.k., drove three hours from Baltimore with her two sisters and wore rollers in her hair as she shopped. "Nosotros already finished our holiday shopping. Nosotros're just here for the excitement!"
The store'south signature primary colors and images of its mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, are displayed equally often equally possible. The 20,000-square-foot shop is shut to Nickelodeon Universe — an indoor theme park complete with light-green slime and roller coasters — and the ice rink with a h2o park and a "not so mini golf" course.
Yehuda Shmidman is the principal executive officer of WHP Global, the brand acquisition and management firm that caused a controlling stake in the parent company of Toys "R" The states in March. WHP, whose investors include Oaktree Uppercase Management, is one of several companies that purchase struggling marquee brands and then look to capitalize on the familiarity of the brands' names past licensing them. Its other brands include Anne Klein and Joseph Abboud.
Mr. Shmidman, forty, grew up in Bergen Canton, which includes East Rutherford. His first trip to Toys "R" Us was in nearby Paramus, a mall boondocks with two Macy's stores four miles apart. He marveled at shelves stocked from floor to ceiling.
"I didn't know there were this many toys in the earth," he said. "Information technology was such a mind-blowing experience — pre-internet days."
Paradigm
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The collapse of Toys "R" Us in 2018 was painful non just to its loyal customers but also to its more than 30,000 employees, who lost their jobs. The retailer became a example study in a private disinterestedness deal gone incorrect, as the company'south investors loaded it up with billions in debt and drove information technology into bankruptcy. While lawyers and advisers collected millions in fees during the bankruptcy process, its former workers struggled to get severance.
Reminders of the brand's tumble into bankruptcy nevertheless exist nearby. Less than a mile from American Dream, a Toys "R" The states sign remains on the display board visible to drivers on Route 3 at the Harmon Meadow shopping complex. Lauryn Dankin'due south family unit chosen the closure of the local Toys "R" Us in Watchung, Northward.J., "ane of the darkest days in our family." Paramus as well had one of the most contempo locations; a smaller, "reimagined" shop opened there in November 2019 but to close in January 2021.
Whether adept memories of shopping experiences past is enough to keep this version of Toys "R" U.s. going remains to be seen.
"Nosotros didn't create the make, and we're not changing it," Mr. Shmidman said. "All we're doing is bringing information technology dorsum to Americans who take been yearning for it."
Large video screens in the American Dream store displayed images of Geoffrey the Giraffe on an countless loop. When a Christmas tree appeared, he received a series of souvenir boxes wrapped with bows. One past one, the mascot unveiled a dump truck, a teddy comport and a scooter.
So a question appeared on the screen: "What will Geoffrey open side by side?"
Next year, Mr. Shmidman said, he plans to beginning rolling out 400 Toys "R" The states stores inside Macy'southward locations. The two stores reached an agreement in Baronial, and Nata Dvir, the chief merchandising officer for Macy's, said the partnership would permit Macy's to "significantly expand our footprint" with children.
When shoppers visited Santaland at the Macy's flagship store in Manhattan's Herald Square this flavour, they saw signage featuring Geoffrey and an announcement: "Guess what's coming to Macy's!" Next to it was a direction to store for toys on the Macy'due south website, which features the Toys "R" Us itemize. A Macy'southward spokesperson declined to reveal the amount of concrete space that Toys "R" United states of america would exist allotted, but said the "store in shops" would feature merchandise and play space for children separated by historic period, interest and category.
Prototype
"Coming Presently" is the almost mutual phrase seen and heard at American Dream, and locals have come to look delays. For more than a decade, the mall was plagued by postponement, simply to open up in phases from October 2019 to October 2020, when pandemic foot traffic was a trickle. Next yr, a Starbucks is expected to open in the mall, and the ski lift, which has been closed for repairs since the fire, will reopen in 2022.
Toys "R" The states is the Russian nesting doll of retail — a work in progress within a work in progress — and plans to take its slide and cafe ready in January.
On Tuesday, customers making their way to Toys "R" Us walked down a corridor lined with eclectic offerings, from artisanal cotton candy and popcorn to the Beef Jerky Feel, which had a "Now Hiring" sign out front.
Curiosity seekers coursed into the toy store, and the stairs were open, but at 3 p.m. employees closed the gate and directed newcomers to form a line. To celebrate again, a grand opening, with a ribbon cutting and a cake, was staged at three:30 p.m. More than than 100 people waited in a line that stretched to Wetzel'southward Pretzels.
"Oh, my God, who is excited?" Mr. Ghermezian, the programmer, said. "I don't know about you guys, but all I have in my head is the jingle, right?"
He led the guests in the theme song; the crowd carried the melody a cappella.
Mr. Shmidman said the remixed rendition playing on speakers in the store had some "2021 pep" and took "versions and versions and versions."
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"If you get chills hearing it, we nailed it," he said. "If not? Nosotros'll go back to the studio."
Jerry Arnold, 31, was first to enter. A male parent of 2, he grew up in East Rutherford and had been a Toys "R" United states regular since he was 4 years old, ownership Power Rangers and PlayStations. Frustrated with the time it had taken the mall to exist completed, he was surprised that the toy store opened Christmas week.
"Hopefully they stay alive this time," he said.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/23/business/toys-r-us-american-dream-mall.html
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