Tru Kids Brands is partnering with Candytopia, an interactive art exhibition, to launch The Toys ‘R’ Us Adventure pop-up experience for the holiday season in Chicago and Atlanta. The immersive pop-up will include full sensory brand experiences from Melissa & Doug, PAW Patrol, Schleich and others.
Interactive playrooms and installations will give children a chance to play and take pictures with both new and classic toys as well as brand mascots. The pop-ups will be in Atlanta and Chicago for the 2019 holiday season before visiting other cities in 2020.
“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,” said Richard Barry, CEO of Tru Kids in a statement.
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Tru Kids Brands is betting big on experiential retailing to revive the Toys ‘R’ Us brand. The retailer will put an emphasis on immersion, events and activities at its regular stores through a partnership with b8ta, and it has brought former Toys ‘R’ Us and Party City executive Jamie Uitdenhowen on board to head up operations.
Replacing the large warehouse-style stores that defined the old Toys ‘R’ Us with this fresh, shopper-focused approach will be key to the brand’s success, according to Chuck Luckenbill, Principal at Luckenbill Retail Solutions and former VP, Store Planning and Design at Toys ‘R’ Us.
“This fresh start that this new company has could be a really good thing,” said Luckenbill in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “In not doing these large, monster stores that are packed full of merchandise, just opening something a little bit more interactive and fun for the customers might be a win-win situation.”
