As a child, nothing really came close to matching the excitement levels of a trip to Toys ‘R’ Us.
Sized like a Big Tesco, decorated like a rainbow, and filled to the brim with all the toys—Bop Its! Tamagotchis! Swingballs!—that you could ever need; it was never not going to be a whirlwind of a day out, was it?
The dream did end, though; with Toys ‘R’ Us forced to close all their UK stores back in 2018. While the US company did continue to trade in other countries, their demise here was met with a level of nostalgia-fuelled anguish, not too dissimilar to when we learned about the end of Blockbuster and Woolworths.
It seems, however, that the end of the toy chain was greatly exaggerated… kind of. Toys ‘R’ Us could be making a shock comeback to UK shores this year after it was reported that a trial run in partnership with WH Smith could be on the cards.
As reported by The Mirror, Toys ‘R’ Us is set to return after they signed a deal to open counters in nine WH Smith stores across the UK. It has not yet been confirmed which stores will be graced by the colourful presence of the toy shops, but it could be happening within the first six months of this year.
These will stick around for at least a year as part of the scheme and, if successful, lead to a longer partnership of ‘5 or 10 years’.
Toys ‘R’ Us’ deal with WH Smith comes after a relaunch of their website in October last year, which returned in time for the big Christmas online trolly dash for toys.
Stay tuned for further announcements on the nine WH Smith locations that will host Toys ‘R’ Us later this year.