Toys R Us’s final two shops within the US are reportedly completely closed

The New Toys “R” Us Store opens at Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey.

Source: Tru Kids Brand

Toys R Us has reportedly closed the only two stores it still had.

The legendary toy retailer made the decision based on the troubles caused by the Covid pandemic and plans to shift resources to open new locations where there is better shopper traffic, Bloomberg said in a report on Friday afternoon.

A Toys R Us representative did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Tru Kids, a company that acquired the intellectual property of Toys R Us during its liquidation in 2018, opened two smaller stores in late 2019: one at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus, New Jersey, and a second in Simon Property Group’s Galleria in Houston.

Representatives from URW and Simon did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

Tru Kids still runs the Toys R Us website, which ultimately sends customers to Amazon to complete a purchase after marketing toys.

Many consumers have stayed away from brick and mortar stores during the pandemic and have instead bought more online. Retailers in shopping malls have suffered extraordinarily. It will likely take some time for shoppers to get used to returning to the malls, and a retail research firm predicts that up to 10,000 store closings could be announced by retailers in the US this year, which would set a new record.

Toy sales in the US rose 16% last year to $ 25.1 billion, market researcher The NPD Group reported on Monday as families turned to toys to keep children busy during the health crisis.