Toys R Us Successor to Roll Out Experiential Pop-Ups

In its second foray into the brick-and-mortar world, the successor to Toys R Us is partnering with Candytopia to open Toys R Us Adventure pop-ups — installations featuring interactive playrooms — in both Chicago and Atlanta.

Tru Kids Brands, the Parsippany, New Jersey-based owner of the Toys R Us name, said it plans to team up with San Francisco’s Candytopia on the new concept, which it described as "an immersive toy wonderland for guests of all ages."

Toys R Us Adventure will open for the holiday season at 830 N. Michigan Ave., in Chicago, in space vacated by Topshop, and at Lenox Marketplace at 3535 Peachtree Road NE, in Atlanta, in late October. British Arcadia Group, facing rising debt, is closing all its U.S. Topshop locations.

The Toys R Us Adventure site in Chicago is 36,000 square feet and the Atlanta location is 14,000 square feet, according to a Tru Kids representative.

These "limited-run engagements will remain in Chicago and Atlanta through the 2019 holiday season, before moving to other major U.S. cities in 2020," Tru Kids said in a statement.

Toys R Us Adventure will provide a toy-filled play land with “one-of-a-kind full sensory brand and play experiences" through interactive rooms and installations featuring the Toys R Us mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, and toy vendors such as Melissa & Doug, Spin Master’s, PAW Patrol line and Schleich, an Imaginative Play Co.

Tru Kids is making a hard push to give shoppers and children experiential offerings to lure them into its venues and away from clicking and ordering online. Tru Kids, following the bankruptcy filing and liquidation of Wayne, New Jersey-based Toys R Us, bought the retailer's brands in January and is resurrecting the business in a very different form than the huge stores that the defunct chain once operated. Interactive Toys R Us Adventure is part of that strategy.

In July, Tru Kids said it plans to debut its first two brick-and-mortar Toys R Us stores in November for the holiday season in Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, and The Galleria in Houston.

Toys R Us Adventure will be a pop-up modeled after successful interactive Candytopia installations across the nation, where visitors can take selfies in front of colorful, imaginative backgrounds. At Toys R Us Adventure, adult patrons will pay an entrance fee of $28, and children will be charged $20. The sites will have gift shops, but are not retail stores, according to the Tru Kids representative.

"The Toys R Us brand was built upon celebrating the joys of childhood and we are thrilled to partner with the creatives behind Candytopia to introduce an exciting new way to play for guests of all ages," Tru Kids CEO Richard Barry said in a statement. “As we focus on bringing a reimagined Toys R Us to the United States, we believe this live experience coupled with our new experiential retail stores will attract families from around the world and create a unique opportunity to rediscover the magic of this beloved family brand."

Candytopia already has an explanation of Toys R Us Adventure on its website.

"Explore over eight mind-blowing rooms and celebrate play with brands you know and love," the site says. "Zoom into adventure, trek through a Schleich safari, show off your medieval moves in the disco castle, test your house-building skills in a huffy-puffy fairy tale come to life.”

The site implores visitors to bring their grandmothers, "moody teens" and "kids of all ages" to Toys R Us Adventure.