Kroger has become the new home of Toys ‘R’ Us: the supermarket will carry a selection of 35 exclusive Geoffrey’s Toy Box toys at nearly 600 locations. The selection will include brands such as Animal Zone, Journey Girls, Edu Science, True Heroes, You & Me, Imaginarium and Just Like Home.
“Geoffrey’s Toy Box delivers a unique shopping destination within Kroger stores,” said Robert Clark, SVP of Merchandising at Kroger in a statement. “We’re excited to offer Geoffrey’s Toy Box this holiday season to provide our customers with the opportunity to purchase a selection of toys once exclusive to Toys ‘R’ Us.”
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The revival was first announced in October, after the biggest lenders of Toys ‘R’ Us canceled the bankruptcy auction for the retailer’s name and other intellectual property assets. The partnership makes Kroger the latest retailer to expand its holiday toy selection:
- Walmart is expanding its collection of toys by 30% in-store and 40% online;
- Target is increasing its overall toy selection by 2,500 products;
- BJ’s Wholesale Club will increase its in-club toy selection by 20%;
- Party City launched 50 Toy City pop-ups alongside its Halloween City stores; and
- Michaels is rebranding its children’s selection in-store and launching a dedicated site.
This is not the first time Kroger has moved beyond traditional supermarket offerings. The retailer rolled out a line of private label apparel in the fall called Dip, which replaced more than a dozen other private label brands, including Indigo by Great Northwest, GNW, Kids Korner and Curfew.
The supermarket has been expanding its private label lines as part of the Restock Kroger program. While the Geoffrey’s Toy Box products aren’t part of an in-house brand, their exclusivity could help support the retailer’s initiative.
