First seen published on The Toy Book, Toys R Us has confirmed that they will open a number of retail stores for the 2019 holiday season. Tru Kids and b8ta, a software-powered experiential retailer, have entered into a joint venture to launch a new store experience that will deliver “the hottest toy products and brands,” carefully curated and showcased in highly immersive smaller-format spaces. The first two new Toys “R” Us stores will open this holiday season, located in The Galleria in Houston, Texas, a Simon Mall, and in Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey. Brand partners and experiences will be announced in the coming weeks.

So in essence, Toys R Us will be a mall store.

According to The Toy Book, using b8ta’s experiential retail model, brands will showcase their products in an interactive, playground-like environment, creating a retail experience centered around product discovery and engagement. Brands also will have the opportunity to design custom experiences and branded shops to help them create memorable experiences for parents and children. This experiential retail environment will leverage b8ta’s Retail as a Service (RaaS) platform, which enables brands to actively manage their in-store experiences and measure how offline experiences translate into online sales.

The merging companies have plans to continue opening stores during 2020, thus confirming that Toys R Us is not a holiday pop up. Toy Wizards will continue to report details as we learn them.

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