THE RETURN of GEOFFREY

              

 Toys "R" Us plans comeback in the United States...

Grab your Zombie gear and get ready... it looks like Geoffrey the Giraffe is coming back from the dead!

According to sources, Richard Barry the CEO of Tru Kids Brands and former global chief merchandising officer at Toys "R" Us, plans to open at least two Toys "R" Us stores in the US and  an e-commerce site this year. “We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to write the next chapter of Toys "R" Us by launching a newly imagined omnichannel retail experience for our beloved brands here in the U.S.," said Barry.   "We're definitely coming back in 2019. At minimum two stores. There's more planned for 2020."  The new stores will be smaller than Toys "R" Us' old stores, about half the size, and "experiential."

Barry pitched his plans for Toys "R" Us at a recent conference in Las Vegas. Said Isaac Larian, the man behind Bratz dolls and Little Tikes toys. "They're considering opening two stores to begin with and then go from there. I hope they're successful. There is a need for an independent toy chain in the US, whether it's Toys "R" Us or something else." "We will sell them inventory" he said. Larian tried to buy approximately 300 Toys "R" Us locations in the United States and Canada last year. Toys "R" Us rejected that offer.

More than 800  Toys "R" US stores closed last year. More than 30,000 employees lost there jobs. But the company kept 900 stores open in Europe, Asia and India. The toy retail giant has had a major share of the market since the late 1950's, but has lost sales in recent years to mega retailers like Wal-mart, Target,  and online giant Amazon.

Toys "R" Us closed all its US stores by August 2018.

Toys "R" Us has always had a special place in my heart despite there higher than average prices... They didn't just have a blaster aisle, they had a blaster section consisting of several aisles, and they carried everything! Not to mention their exclusive NERF items and their annual NERF FEST events

NERF FEST 2017 at TRU.

Whether they can make a successful comeback or not remains to be seen. But I guess we should wish them good  luck, and hope that there NERF section is as glorious as it once was. So NERF ON Toys "R" Us and...

                                                NERF on NERFerS!!!