Toys R Us returns to the Philly area — inside Macy’s at Willow Grove and Cherry Hill malls

Grown-ups of a certain age recall a childhood trip to Toys R Us as the ultimate treat. Wandering the aisles full of Barbie dolls and Lego boxes opened up a world of imagination.

Those dreams were crushed when Toys R Us closed down in 2017, but now the iconic brand is returning for a new generation of kids — and kids at heart. It’s opening stores-within-stores at Macy’s nationwide, including two locations in Willow Grove and Cherry Hill malls that are already up and running.

Macy’s Toys R Us stores began opening in July and will continue to roll out through Oct. 15 ahead of the lucrative holiday season. The in-store shops range from 1,000 square feet to as large as 10,000 square feet in some locations.

“As a Toys R Us kid, I could not be more excited to bring this beloved brand that so many of our customers know and love into Macy’s online and to our stores across America,” said Nata Dvir, Macy’s chief merchandising officer, in a press release.

As legacy chains such as Kohl’s, Tiffany and Macy’s struggled to stay open and relevant during the pandemic online shopping boom, “retailers have been forced to reexamine their legacy systems and strategies that have shaped the industry for years,” noted Deloitte in a recent 2022 retail industry outlook. Several filed for bankruptcy during COVID-19, including Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Century 21 and Stein Mart.

The pandemic “has opened the door for a long-overdue great retail reset that can help move many retailers into more stable — and potentially more profitable — positions,” Deloitte wrote in its report.

Macy’s inked the Toys R Us partnership with WHP Global, which acquired the Toys R Us brand in March 2021. The toy retailer filed for bankruptcy in 2017.

The relationship between Macy’s and Toys R Us is similar to new partnerships such as the store-within-a-store concept between Kohl’s and Sephora signed last year, said Steven Gartner, executive vice president, global retail services at CBRE Inc., based in Philadelphia.

For Macy’s, “this really validates department stores and malls that they’re in,” said Gartner, a retail industry expert .

Toys R Us abandoned its physical real estate after bankruptcy. “To build that back up is a daunting task, and they don’t need to do that,” he said. “This shows we shouldn’t count out the nimbleness of good merchants like Macy’s.”

Macy’s has bounced back from COVID-19, reporting a 136% net income increase to $1.43 billion in 2021, and continues raising prices this year.

The overall toy market also is soaring. Mattel, whose brand Fisher-Price had the top-selling toy for babies and infants in 2021, raised prices last holiday season and expects an even stronger 2022.