Last year Toys R Us went away, then it came back… sort of. Now a real comeback might be in the works and it might happen in the form of a new company.
When Toys R Us went down last year, things were somewhat simple to explain. The company went under in the US and UK, but remained in Canada, Europe, Australia and a host of other locations.
Then things started to become complicated. The brand and other intellectual properties (IP) were about to be sold at an auction during the fall, but that never happened.
Instead, they remained in the new company Geoffrey LLC which launched Geoffrey’s Toy Box. That brand then launched a host of pop-up stores at over 600 Kroger locations for the holiday shopping season. But it was temporary.
Now, the New York Post reports that a few days ago a group of former Toys R Us executives launched a new company – Tru Kids Inc. They are the successor of Geoffrey LLC and want to revive Toys R Us in a new form – Tru Kids. If you didn’t catch it – Tru is a play on the Toys R Us shortname.
The executives will take part at Toy Fairs and are working to set up merchanting deals and partnerships. Would that be the true return of Toys R Us in the US and UK? So far it’s early to tell, but it seems like a serious endeavor, so it will be interesting to follow.
