Toys R Us gets a new life in the hands of former executives

If everything goes as planned, Wall Street will soon witness one of its iconic brands rising from the ashes like a Phoenix. Nearly a year after Toys R Us downed its shutters, fans of the popular brand can now hope to pick their favorite toys from the neighborhood stores.

An initiative by some former executives, who launched a new company on the lines of the now-defunct Toys R Us, has paved the way for the brand to return to the market in a new avatar. The last holiday season was probably the first to go without Toys R Us since the company was launched more than six decades ago.

Considering the size of the product portfolio, it might not be easy for the sector to fill the vacuum created by Toys R Us. And, the same goes for the ongoing attempts to revive it, which involves the acquisition of the Toys R Us, Babies R Us and Geoffrey brands, which were taken over by lenders. The new company is christened Tru Kids.

An initiative by some former executives has paved the way for the company to return to the market in a new avatar

The promoters of the new firm will likely try the same tactics to push the products as those used by Toys R Us’ competitors – offering products at low prices – which ultimately led to the latter’s liquidation. It needs to be noted that Toys R Us products are still being sold in leading stores like Walmart (WMT).

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While it is not clear how the new business plans to promote the products, it is speculated that most of the sales will be achieved through own stores and partnerships. In all probability, the Toys R Us brand will get a new lease of life under Tru Kids, which is headquartered in New Jersey. Having learned lessons from the downfall of Toys R Us, Tru Kids will hopefully be careful with its business strategy.

Toy R Us ceased to exist last year, rather unceremoniously, after bankruptcy proceedings resulted in its liquidation. Trouble started brewing at the toy retailer after the holiday season in the preceding year turned out to be a disaster for it, in terms of sales.

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