Get it? Tru Kids. Like Toys R Us, and…
You know what, if I have to explain it, then neither of us should be here right now.
Former executives at the bankrupt toy chain — which liquidated all of its US stores last year — began actively reaching out to toy manufacturers this week to discuss a comeback plan for the brand.
According to an email obtained by The Post, a new firm called Tru Kids Inc. was launched on Sunday, armed with the ownership rights to the Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us trademarks, as well as the company’s Geoffrey the Giraffe mascot.
According to the email, execs at the new company — whose new chief executive is Richard Barry, the former chief merchandiser of the iconic retailer — were looking to set up meetings at Toy Fair New York, the industry’s biggest US trade show, which begins Feb. 16. Currently, because of how hard businesses were hit when Toys R Us sank, there are vendors reluctant to do business with Tru Kids.
“Almost everyone at the show got burned by Toys ‘R’ Us,” one toy executive said.
Tru Kids executives just returned from Hong Kong, (remember when we discussed Toys R Us thriving in China?) where toy buyers shore up their final orders for the new year, in an effort to interest retailers, including their own franchisees, in their private-label products, sources said.
While the chain’s stores liquidated nationwide last summer, a team of ex-Toys ‘R’ Us execs under Barry has been quietly collecting licensing fees and servicing the company’s overseas stores — which before the company’s 2017 Chapter 11 filing included more than 750 outlets across Canada, Western Europe and Japan.
Tru Kids also is interested in opening pop-up Toys ‘R’ Us stores and striking deals with other retailers like Kroger, which had its Geoffrey’s Toy Box kiosks over the holidays and sold limited numbers of toys.
“They are trying to get some value from the intellectual property,” said a source.
SOURCE: New York Post
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