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Toys R Us Comes Back!

A major U.S. toy seller is back, and it says its new stores are more fun than ever.

Storefront of a mall Toys R Us with windows showing Geoffrey the giraffe and an ice cream area with the words ice cream and a lit up ice cream cone.

Courtesy of American Dream

In 2022, Toys R Us opened this store at American Dream, a shopping center in New Jersey.

Toys R Us, which once was the biggest toy seller in the United States, is making a comeback! The company has already opened several new stores, and many more are planned for 2024.

In November 2023, Toys R Us opened a large store in the Mall of America in Minnesota, two years after opening a large location at American Dream, a shopping mall in New Jersey. In the past three years, the company has also opened smaller stores on cruise ships, in airports, and inside Macy’s department stores. Toys R Us is growing—not long after many people thought it might disappear forever.

Toys R Us was founded in 1957 and was successful for many years. But six years ago, Toys R Us declared bankruptcy, which means that it owed more money than it could pay back. Many people were choosing to buy toys online or at stores like Walmart instead of Toys R Us. Hundreds of Toys R Us stores closed.

In 2021, an organization called WHP Global decided Toys R Us could be saved. WHP Global puts money into companies with the hopes of making more money—and it decided to put money into opening new Toys R Us stores. Its goal was to get people to want to shop at Toys R Us instead of other places.

One way to get people to go somewhere is to make it fun. Many of the new stores aim to do just that! For example, the Toys R Us at American Dream has a two-story spiral slide, an ice cream parlor, and places where kids can try out some of the toys.

Will the fun be enough to keep Toys R Us in business? Decide for yourself! The slideshow below shows what you might find if you visit a new Toys R Us store.

Toys“R”Us

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Fun Fact

Topical Press Agency—Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The oldest toy store in the world is Hamleys in Great Britain. Its first location opened in 1760!

Toys Through Time

If you lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago, what toys would you have had? Check out the timeline to see when some of the world’s classic toys were first introduced.

Ancient Toys

Side by side images of crude pull toys and other toys in a museum display.

Gary Todd

Did kids play back in ancient times? Yes! The photos show pull toys and other playthings that were made thousands of years ago.

Go to Britannica to learn more about how toys have changed…and try to imagine what toys might look like in the future!

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Word of the Day

destination

Part of speech:

noun

Definition:

: a place to which a person is going or something is being sent

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