Toys R Us announced plans to open 120 new standalone stores across the United States by the end of 2026, a gamble that the beloved toy brand can reclaim shelf space it surrendered almost a decade ago.
The retailer, now operated under WHP Global, unveiled the expansion Thursday in partnership with Go! Retail Group. If the rollout hits its target, the chain will more than triple its current U.S. footprint of roughly 40 standalone locations. The move comes ahead of the holiday shopping season, when toy sales typically peak and brand visibility matters most.
Jamie Uitdenhowen, executive vice president of Toys R Us at WHP Global, framed the push as a turning point. ABC News reported his statement Thursday:
"This is a major moment for [Toys R Us] as we significantly expand our presence across the United States. Together with our incredible partners, we are growing Toys R Us in unique ways to meet customers wherever they are, whether that's at a standalone store in their hometown, inside Macy's, at the airport or at a Navy Exchange."
The company did not disclose which cities or states will receive the new locations. It also left open how many of the stores will carry the full suite of planned features, which include "Creator Studios", spaces designed for influencers and toy brands to film content, unveil products, and host launch events, along with candy shops and cafes.
The expansion is the latest chapter in one of American retail's most turbulent stories. Private equity firms acquired Toys R Us in 2005 for $6.6 billion, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The debt load from that deal weighed on the company for years.
By 2017, Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy. A year later, it closed most of its U.S. stores, a move that left millions of families without the destination toy shop that had defined childhood shopping for generations. The closures wiped out thousands of retail jobs and handed market share to big-box competitors and online sellers.
A brief comeback attempt in 2019 produced just two new brick-and-mortar stores. Both were later shuttered, and the reasons were never fully explained. For a brand built on the promise that kids could wander enormous aisles of toys, the failed restart looked like a final chapter. It wasn't.
WHP Global acquired a controlling stake in the brand in 2021 and moved quickly. That December, the company launched a two-story global flagship store at the American Dream shopping mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey. A second U.S. flagship followed in 2023 at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Toys R Us also built out shop-in-shop locations inside Macy's department stores across the country, a lower-risk way to test demand without signing long-term leases on standalone real estate. The 120-store announcement signals WHP Global believes that test phase is over.
Go! Retail Group will serve as the strategic partner for the rollout, though the company's specific responsibilities, whether it handles real estate, staffing, logistics, or all three, remain unclear from the announcement. The partnership model lets Toys R Us scale without shouldering the full operational burden itself, a structure that makes sense for a brand still rebuilding credibility with landlords and investors.
The new stores are not just about stocking shelves. Toys R Us described the Creator Studios as "dedicated spaces where influencers, creators and toy brands can create content, unveil new products and host toy reveals, launches and special events." The concept reflects how toy marketing has shifted toward social media and unboxing videos, territory dominated by YouTube and TikTok personalities rather than traditional TV ads.
Whether candy shops and cafes inside a toy store will drive foot traffic or just raise overhead is an open question. Retailers across the industry have experimented with "experiential" formats in recent years, and the results are mixed. Questions about the brand's staying power have followed every step of the comeback so far.
The company's own statement leaned heavily on nostalgia and brand equity, assets that cost nothing to invoke but are difficult to convert into sustained revenue. Toys R Us said it aims to be a "place for discovery," building on what it called its legacy:
"Toys R Us has always been a place for discovery, and we're building on that legacy by bringing customers the hottest toys, biggest trends and experiences that make the brand unlike any other."
Uitdenhowen's mention of airports and Navy Exchange locations alongside standalone stores and Macy's suggests the brand is pursuing a wide distribution strategy. But the announcement did not specify whether airport or military retail locations are part of the 120-store count or represent a separate channel entirely.
The brand's sister label has also been expanding. Kohl's recently added 56 new Babies R Us locations, another sign that WHP Global is pushing the entire brand family back into physical retail at scale.
Toys R Us is not the only post-bankruptcy brand betting on a brick-and-mortar revival. Claire's has pursued a similar comeback strategy, redesigning its in-store experience across hundreds of locations. The broader trend reflects a retail industry still searching for the right balance between online convenience and in-person experience.
For Toys R Us, the math is straightforward but unforgiving. The brand went from a $6.6 billion acquisition to bankruptcy in twelve years, closed nearly every store, failed a two-location restart, and is now promising 120 new locations in a matter of months. The timeline alone raises questions about how many of these stores will be fully built out, with Creator Studios, candy shops, and cafes, versus stripped-down versions designed to hit a number by December.
None of that changes the fact that millions of American parents remember what it felt like to walk a kid through a Toys R Us before Christmas. Brand loyalty that deep is rare, and WHP Global is clearly banking on it. New store openings in markets like California suggest the company is targeting high-population areas where demand should be strongest.
Nostalgia opens doors. Delivering on 120 leases, buildouts, and staffing plans in a few months is what keeps them open.