Toys 'R' Us is preparing a brick-and-mortar comeback this holiday season, and its strategy draws heavily on the playbook that revived Barnes & Noble. The iconic toy retailer closed its last U.S. stores in 2018, undone in part by the convenience of online shopping. Now, with cultural trends shifting back toward in-person retail experiences, the company is betting that a curated, event-driven store format can succeed where a purely transactional one failed.
Barnes & Noble offers the clearest template. Since 2019, the bookseller has moved beyond rows of shelves to create what amounts to a third space, mixing Starbucks cafés, reading lounges, and themed gifts with a sizable toys and games section. The approach is deliberately curated rather than algorithmically stocked. «I think a proper bookstore has to be curated, and that is the essence of one of the core skills of what it is to be a bookseller,» CEO James Daunt said in a 2024 interview. «The sensible thing to do is just have fun in each individual store.» That philosophy stands in contrast to Amazon's physical bookstores, which launched in 2015 with a ratings-first model mirroring its online store and closed all locations by 2022.
Toys 'R' Us has signaled it will follow a similar path. The company's official press release emphasized experiences at the intersection of play, entertainment, and content creation, including Creator Studios where influencers, creators, and toy brands can produce content, unveil products, and host launches and special events. Select locations will also feature candy shops and cafés, giving customers more reasons to explore, discover, and spend time in the store. The addition of Creator Studios echoes Barnes & Noble's long-running author signings and readings, turning a shopping trip into an event that feels like participation in something larger than the purchase itself.
The target audience has also widened. The toy market is no longer just about children. Adults who grew up with Toys 'R' Us now have disposable income to spend on LEGO sets, collectibles, and trading card games. According to recent Circana research, the toy industry's growth continues to be fueled increasingly by older consumers, with adult-only households accounting for 55% of toy sales and representing the largest contributor to the industry overall. That shift gives Toys 'R' Us a chance to capture a much larger share of the market than before. While toys for kids remain central, thriving Pokémon TCG sections and 18+ LEGO sets are expected to feature prominently when stores open this holiday season.
Timing the launch around the holidays is another page from the Barnes & Noble playbook. Black Friday and Christmas are two of the biggest windows for toy sales, and resurfacing during that period gives the relaunch an immediate built-in audience. The approach resembles how Spirit Halloween concentrates its entire operation around October each year. The open question is how Toys 'R' Us will sustain momentum after the holiday season ends. The toy industry may be seeing an influx of adult buyers, but that does not guarantee they will return to physical stores once the seasonal urgency fades.
For now, the comeback represents a notable test of whether the experience-first retail model that rescued Barnes & Noble can work for a toy brand with a different product mix and a different history. If it does, it could offer a blueprint for other retailers looking to compete in a digital economy by making the store itself the attraction.