The Rise And Fall Of Toys “R” Us

1. Rise: the Toys ''R'' Us re-launch

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After collapsing and Toys ''R'' Us ended we all thought it was forever, until 2021 when it launched its new stores in America - unlike the store has ever been seen before. The world famous toys brand was back after its initial rise and its humongous fall.

2. Rise: a whole new look

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The come back was huge and Toys ''R'' Us were pulling out all of the stops to ensure that this time they were back for good. The stores opened with ice cream parlours, cafés, and even a child friendly slide which linked floor 2 of the store to floor 1.

3. Rise: the return to Australia and the UK

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In 2019 Toys ''R'' Us returned to Australia which meant that the brand was back in one of its biggest markets. And, as of 2022 Toys ''R'' Us once again hit the UK market in another huge come back as it returned to countries it had once dominated in the toys field.

4. Rise: time for a rebrand

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This time the rise of Toys ''R'' Us came with lots of new elements. The new website was unlike anything that it had ever been and it cleverly combines elements of the original as well as new brand elements. It's also easy to navigate meaning that they have embraced the way of the modern buyer.

5. Rise: the initial rise of Toys ''R'' Us

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In 1978 the company started selling toys, and Toys ''R'' Us expanded rapidly and took off into something that hadn't even been imagined. What started out fairly small, quickly started to expand at a huge rate as the business just took off and the world embraced the toy store.

6. Rise: by 1990 it controlled a quarter of the world's market

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By 1990 Toys ''R'' Us was at its prime. The rise had come thick and fast and in the 1990s Toys ''R'' Us controlled 25% of the world's market for toys. They were the leading toy retailer around the globe. They are known for their wide selection and great customer service.

7. Rise: toys overload and mass production

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Toys ''R'' Us was the first company that offered such a huge selection of toys. They were the first of their kind in having such a massive array of products available each and every time. This model of mass production is now the norm, but at the time of their rise, they were the first within the toy market to do so.

8. Rise: success in marketing

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Toys ''R'' Us had a massively successful and popular marketing campaign. They started the 'I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys 'R' Us Kid' slogan which because associated with the company world wide. It appealed to kids as well as adults and its marketing success was crucial in its rise.

9. Rise: it expanded into the UK, Japan and Canada

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Toys ''R'' Us was taking over the market of children's toys, the rise of the company was huge. They then expanded into the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada. Their expansion only helped the company in terms of its success and domination of the toy market.

10. Rise: the Kiddie City line

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The company then added another win to their rise of success by adding their new line which was named the 'Kiddie City' range of toys. This was the company's own range and it provided a less expensive alternative to other brands and toys which was hugely successful with customers.

11. Rise: they had an exclusive partnership with the Children's Television Workshops

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Toys ''R'' Us then added to its rise of success even further when it started its exclusive relationship with the Children's Television Workshop which started to produce Sesame Street toys (a hugely popular program at the time) exclusively for the company.

12. Rise: they bought exclusivity to the FAO Schwarz brand

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In 2009 Toys ''R'' Us bought the exclusivity of FAO Schwarz brand who produced high end toys. This means that they had exclusive access to these high-end products which were not created by other retailers - giving them another reason to shop solely at Toys ''R'' Us.

13. In 2021 WHP Global took control

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In 2021, WHP Global took control from Tru Kids Inc who initially owned Toys ''R'' Us. WHP wanted to create a new rise, after its fall because they recognized that it is the brand that is nostalgic for our childhood happiness and the thing we associate with toys and play.

14. Rise: they used clever choices of fun locations

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Again after the fall, Toys ''R'' Us were keen to rise again. The company did not want to throw up stores anywhere. They cleverly located the first new stores at the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park and the Dreamworks Universe water park to appeal to kids.

15. Rise: they joined 400 Macy's stores

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The structure of stores within a store has become ever more popular in modern times because we like everything to be in the same place for our convenience. So, Toys ''R'' Us has cleverly joined Macy's stores - over 400 - to ensure that there is more footfall.

16. Fall: the bankruptcy

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In 2018 Toys ''R'' Us went bankrupt, they could not deal with their increasing debt when they were not turning over enough profit any longer to keep them afloat and they were unable to pay back the growing debt. They filed for bankruptcy and this marked the fall of Toys ''R'' Us, and the end of an era.

17. Fall: the changing digitalisation of the world

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It's not only Toys ''R'' Us who suffered and fell due to the rise of technology. Kids are now able to log on to an app where they can enjoy virtual shopping. Without the same amount of footfall, Toys ''R'' Us  noticed a steep decline in sales which contributed to its fall.

18. Fall: the rise of Amazon - the fall of Toys ''R'' Us

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Now Amazon can't be blamed solely for the fall of Toys ''R'' Us, but it definitely contributed. Amazon now dominates the market in all areas. It does not specialize in certain products, but all products and it proves quick, online service, meaning that it is steadily wiping out more and more retailers.

19. Fall: they borrowed a lot of money for a failed buyout

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Perhaps the biggest and most crucial errors that marked the fall of Toys ''R'' Us happened in 2005. They borrowed a LOT of money in 2005 to finance a buyout which failed massively and all that came of it was an increasing load of debt. From here on the company started to sink.

20. Fall: the stores started to fall behind competitors in terms of quality

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Another huge point in the fall of Toys ''R'' Us was that they started to fall behind competitors when it came  to keeping up with the store's quality, and keeping it up in terms of innovation. But because the billions of dollars of debt meant that Toys R Us couldn't invest back into the company to keep up.

21. Fall: the pandemic hit

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Toys ''R'' Us reopened some new stores which were supposed last attempts to create a whole new experience which would be more than shopping it would incorporate a multi sense experience and bring back customers. But these happened just before the pandemic hit. They were then forced to close. They reopened after lockdown, however by this point the stores did not last long before closing permanently.

22. Fall: Walmart and Target stole customers

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Toys ''R'' Us  started to experience a huge drop in sales due to Walmart and Target growing ever bigger and incorporating toys into their stores. Toy brands were selling a lot more through these two companies than they ever had managed to sell through Toys ''R'' Us.

23. Fall: It was more expensive than it's competitors

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Toys ''R'' Us had a higher price tag than its competitors. As its competitors moved into the toy field, and along with all of their other products, these huge companies could put their prices down. Toys ''R'' Us could not keep up with these kinds of prices.

24. Fall: It was too late to close some stores

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Toys ''R'' Us was not quick enough to close some stores, closing stores would have been a way for the company to be able to get back some of its money. But, in the year it filed for bankruptcy there were 1697 stores open which was actually more than it had ever had before.

25. Fall: there was a high employee turnover rate

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Toys ''R'' Us had a very high high turnover of employees. The rate that they were turning around employees meant that they could not establish their customer service. They did not have the money to be able to up workers wages to be able to rewards loyalty, due to their debt.

26. Fall: they didn't have an efficient supply chain

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The Toys ''R'' Us supply chain was not efficient enough to keep up with the demand. And so in comparison to new competitors who were churning out constant supply, Toys ''R'' Us was falling behind their demand which led customers to find other retailers instead.

27. Fall: they were not innovative enough

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One of the main problems with Toys ''R'' Us was that they did not continue to be innovative enough. For years and years they did not change anything to keep up with modern wants and trends. The customers who were doing this were proving more attractive to customers.

28. Fall: pressure from shareholders

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Share holders of Toys ''R'' Us  were putting more and more pressure on the company as they realized the company was starting to fall. This pressure led Toys ''R'' Us to make some short term and poor decisions which ended up contributing to the fall of Toys ''R'' Us.

29. Fall: It was out of the way

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In the 1990s Toys ''R'' Us was an attraction in its own right because it not only bad toy stores but it also had restaurants and events. So driving to the stores out of the way wasn't an issue. For the modern customer however, out of town meant that it became inconvenient and forgotten.

30. Fall: there were increasing costs from changing safety regulations

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Toys ''R'' Us as well as many other companies were facing changes in safety regulations. New laws to do with health and safety meant that Toys ''R'' Us had bog and expensive changes to make. So, the lack of money and these new expenses also led to the fall of Toys ''R'' Us.

31. Fall: some of the expansion internationally was not successful

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Toys ''R'' Us had successfully managed to expand into the international market in some ways. Yet it was not all successful. Some of their international launches were huge costs to the company, and some of them did not work meaning, that, that money was lost.