After several holiday seasons in which it was only open inside Macy's stores, the iconic toy brand Toys R Us is reopening its stand-alone brick-and-mortar stores, and one of its first locations is in a suburban Chicago mall.
On Saturday, October 26th, Toys R Us will open a 10,000 square foot store in Harlem Irving Plaza in Norwich.
The opening comes after a turbulent few years for the chain, which included a bankruptcy in 2018 and the opening of Macy’s pop-ups across the U.S. in 2022.
Toys R Us currently plans to open up to 24 flagship stores.
As for the Norwich store, Saturday’s grand opening celebration will include in-store activities, face painting, balloon twists, swag bags and giveaways, according to a press release.
The celebration is open to the public and begins at 9:30 a.m. Saturday with a ribbon cutting at the store at 4104 North Harlem Avenue featuring Jeffrey the Giraffe.
The new store is a “contemporary retail concept” with an immersive shopping experience featuring popular toys and brands such as Lego, Barbie, Hot Wheels, Nerf and Paw Patrol, according to the release.
In addition to the pop-up inside Macy’s, the new store joins Toys R Us at the Mall of America, Megamall of New Jersey, American Dream stores, and stores at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
Earlier this year, Babies R Us, the children’s clothing and supplies store that also went out of business in 2018, announced it would open 200 stores in Kohl’s department stores nationwide.