Brendan McDermid/ Reuters
- Toys R Us, which went bankrupt years ago, will open up to 24 stores in the US.
- The brand will also have stores in cruise ships and at airports.
- The company was first opened in the 1940s and has been a staple for American children ever since.
Toys R Us kids of all ages across the United States will be happy to learn that the store will be back and better than ever in the new year.
In 2017 and 2018, things looked bleak for the company as it announced the closure of all US stores after an especially poor holiday season. But a Friday press release announced the brand plans to open 24 stores nationwide in 2024. It also plans to expand into the travel industry through additional stores in airports and on cruises.
The brand was first founded in 1948 by Charles Lazarus when he returned from World War II, and officially became "Toys R Us" in the late 1950s, per previous reporting from Insider.
It was the first big-box toy store ever created, according to History — and a far cry from other toy stores at the time. Nowhere else could consumers walk through isles holding thousands of toys of all types.
In the following decades, the ever-expanding stores skyrocketed in popularity and were instrumental in distributing some of the best-known toys across the US.
TV only made the brand even bigger.
Using their advertisements, celebrity collaborations, and their mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe, Toys R Us sold thousands of toys like Mr. Potato Heads, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Barbies.
Its jingle, "I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid. There's a million toys at Toys R Us that I can play with," was the soundtrack for kids from the 1980s to the early 2000s.
In the press release from its parent brand, WHP Global, company executives celebrated the return of the retail stores.
"The Toys R Us brand is growing fast and our expansion into air, land and sea is a testament to the brand's strength," said WHP CEO Yehuda Shmidman in the release.