Toys R Us is coming to greater than 400 Macy’s shops subsequent 12 months

The Toys R Us website is now operated by the Macy’s department store chain.

Source: Toys R Us

Macy’s works with the owner of Toys R Us to offer a selection of toys, games and other gadgets for children in more than 400 stores in the chain of stores and online.

Toys R Us’s shop-in-shops in Macy’s will be launched next year, the companies announced on Thursday. A larger selection of Toys R Us merchandise is now available on Macy’s website.

“Our toy business has grown exponentially for Macy’s over the past year,” said Nata Dvir, Macy’s chief merchandising officer. “Our partnership enables Macy’s to significantly expand our presence in this category.”

The hope, Dvir added, is that shoppers will visit Macy’s in search of toys and pick up a few other items like clothes or makeup along the way. Macy’s could take advantage of the upswing as it faces tougher competition online and from major retailers Walmart and Target.

More specifically, Macy’s is about the millennial mom, CEO Jeff Gennette said on a conference call Thursday. When these younger parents visit Macy’s to buy toys for their children, they often buy other higher-margin items in addition, he said.

The company raised its outlook for fiscal 2021 after reporting fiscal second quarter results and revenue that beat analysts’ estimates as it saw new customers online.

Brand management company WHP Global acquired a majority stake in Tru Kids, the parent company of the Toys R Us, Babies R Us and Geoffrey the Giraffe brands, earlier this year.

Tru Kids, backed by Solus Alternative Asset Management and funds managed by private equity group Ares Management, bought the brands and intellectual property of Toys R Us after the latter filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2017 after a crippling Christmas season 2017 will emerge from bankruptcy alone and drive it into liquidation.

Tru Kids opened two pop-up locations in shopping malls for Toys R Us in 2019, but they closed earlier this year due to poor performance during the Covid pandemic. WHP Global had then vowed to reopen the stationary stores at some point.

WHP Global didn’t say how long it would work with Macy’s.

As part of the agreement, Toys R Us’s website will be operated by Macy’s, the companies said. Target ran the iconic toy chain’s website for a while, but that relationship fell through in July 2020.