KB Toys could be making a comeback to fill void left by Toys R Us
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Toys R Us will soon be no more, but another long-lost toy store could soon fill the void.
Remember KB Toys? The company went out of business in 2008, closing up all of its stores across the country. The name and trademarks were purchased a year later by the owners of Toys ‘R’ Us and then sold again in 2016 to Strategic Marks.
Now, the company’s new owners are planning to open 1,000 pop-up KB Toys stores for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season.
“My assumption is that there’s about half a billion dollars’ worth of toys that have been produced for Toys R Us with no place to go,” Strategic Marks president Ellia Kassoff told CNNMoney. “That’s a big, big void that we’re hoping to fill up.”
Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy last year, and it announced last week that it expects to close all of its 735 stores in the US. That will put 31,000 people out of work.
Kassoff said in a post on Linkedin that if the pop-up stores perform well, it’s possible some locations could stay open permanently.
“We understand, we’re not just restarting the only other well-known and loved toy chain in the US but hope to find places for those 33,000 jobs which will be lost as Toys ‘R’ Us closes,” Kassoff posted. “When we’re ready, you will be very happy with the results and we believe our model can withstand both on-line as well as other large competitors for not only the short-term but long-term as well.”