AN ICONIC 90s retailer has revealed six further locations where it wants to open new stores with one opening in hours.
Toys R Us has plans to open 30 new shops across the UK this summer after it successfully opened almost a dozen in 2023.
The stores will open as concessions inside WHSmith branches across the UK.
Last month, Toys R Us confirmed the first 17 locations it wants to open stores this summer, including in Hereford, Sutton and Nottingham.
Now, the iconic retailer has exclusively revealed to The Sun a further six sites where it is opening stores.
A store in Harrogate will open tomorrow, June 8, while a further two branches will pull up their shutters in Derby and Brighton on June 22 and June 29 respectively.
Read more in Store Openings
Worthing, Lichfield and Lancaster are all set to see new Toys R Us shops open between July 13 and August 10 too.
This is now the full list of 23 Toys R Us locations that have either opened, or are set to open:
- Hereford – opened May 25
- Leamington Spa – opened May 25
- Fosse Park – opened may 25
- Guildford – opened June 1
- Sutton – opened June 1
- Harrogate – opening June 8
- Shrewsbury – opening June 8
- Salisbury – opening June 15
- Colchester – opening June 15
- Maidstone – opening June 22
- Derby – opening June 22
- Nottingham – opening June 22
- Woking – opening June 29
- Brighton Churchill Square – opening June 29
- Worthing South Street – opening July 13
- Hastings – opening July 20
- Thurrock – opening July 27
- Lichfield – opening July 27
- Newton Abbot – opening August 3
- Halifax – opening August 10
- Lancaster – opening August 10
- Richmond – opening August 24
- Taunton – opening August 31
WHSmith has confirmed to The Sun that all 30 Toys R Us concessions will be open by the end of August.
But the retailer is yet to reveal where the remaining seven branches will open.
Toys R Us was founded in 1957 by American businessman Charles P Lazarus.
It quickly expanded after opening its first store in Wayne, New Jersey, to become a chain of more than 1,500 stores worldwide.
Toys R Us mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe – originally known as Dr G Raffe – was introduced in 1969.
Toys R Us collapsed in 2018 and closed all of its 100 UK branches, but announced plans for a relaunch in October 2021.
A new online store launched in September 2022 and started selling over 14,000 toys from over 100 different suppliers.
Retailers opening stores
IT’S not all bad news on the high street as several retailers are bucking the trend and opening shops.
- German discounter Aldi has announced it will open 35 new UK stores this year. The openings form part of Aldi‘s long-term target of operating 1,500 stores in the UK.
- Asda has been opening hundreds of convenience stores as it looks to rival major players Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
- Purepay Retail Limited , the parent company of Bonmarché, Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) and Peacocks, Purepay Retail Limited, has said it wants to open 100 new high street stores over the next 18 months.
- Home Bargains has said it wants to “eventually have between 800 and 1,000 retail outlets open”.
- Primark is also opening new branches and investing and renovating more than a dozen of its existing shops.
- Screwfix is set to open 40 new stores nationwide as its owner, Kingfisher, seeks to expand the DIY brand’s national presence.
- Tesco has revealed plans to open 70 more stores across the UK over the next year as part of major expansion plans.
- WHSmith has turned its focus to the travel side of its business, with plans to open new sites in airports, railway stations and hospitals.
The 90s retailer officially returned to the high street last summer, opening nine branches across the UK.
Stores opened inside WHSmith shops in Canterbury, Chelmsford, Oxford and Solihull.
Consumer reporter Ellie Smitherman visited one of the biggest Toys R us shop-in-shops on Broad Street in Reading which was one of six to open in July last year.
She wasn’t expecting too much at first but was pleasantly surprised – read our exclusive report to find out more.
OTHER RETAILERS THAT HAVE MADE A COMEBACK
Plenty of retailers have struggled since the coronavirus pandemic, and the last few years have seen some vanish from the high street completely.
The soaring cost of living and expensive rents and mortgages have all been playing a part in the demise of some of our much-loved high street names, including Wilko and Paperchase.
It’s not all been bad news for the sector though, and some major names have managed to make a comeback, including Toys R Us.
Last year much-loved retailer Wilko fell into administration and closed all of its shops in September 2023, leaving shoppers devastated.
But the brand name was later scooped up by The Range as part of a £5million deal – meaning the Wilko name would live on.
Wilko stores have since opened in Plymouth, Exeter, Luton, St Albans and Rotherham.
In October last year, Paperchase also made a return after closing all of its 134 shops and concessions earlier in the year.
Supermarket giant Tesco stepped in and bought the rights to the brand and went on to open concessions inside its own stores.
A total of 261 Tesco stores now stock Paperchase products – we have the full list.
More recently fashion retailer M&Co which also closed all of its stores after collapsing into administration announced it would return to high streets as well as relaunching online.
The retailer opened the new store in Newton Mearns, Scotland, in May, with head of retail for the chain Sandra McPherson saying it was “thrilled” to welcome back customers in-store.
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