Toys R Us has returned to Greater Boston, opening a roughly 5,000-square-foot store inside South Shore Plaza in Braintree on Aug. 31 — nine years after the chain's bankruptcy led to the closure of more than 800 U.S. stores and left an estimated 33,000 employees jobless. The Braintree opening is one piece of a much bigger national bet: 120 new standalone Toys R Us stores are set to open across the country this holiday season.
That expansion, announced this month, would bring the chain's standalone footprint to about 160 stores plus shops embedded inside Macy's locations, according to a PR Newswire release. The rollout is being carried out in partnership with Go! Retail Group, which said the new stores will resonate with shoppers, per the same release. It's a dramatically different Toys R Us than the one that collapsed in 2017, when the retailer filed for bankruptcy after reaching more than 1,000 U.S. locations at its peak.
A Smaller, Temporary Footprint Replaces the Big-Box Model
Unlike the sprawling warehouse stores of the past, many of the new locations are smaller and often temporary, Fortune reported. Toys R Us currently operates 40 standalone stores along with shop-in-shops inside Macy's stores nationwide, according to Fast Company, which also reports that the company has not published a full list of the new store locations. Some of the new stores will include Creator Studios where influencers and toy brands can film content and host product unveilings, while select locations will add candy shops and cafes, according to ABC News.
The chain is also pushing into airports, with plans for select airport locations in 2027 following an Orlando International Airport store that opened in August; a second Orlando airport location is scheduled for summer 2027, per the PR Newswire release. WHP Global, which acquired a controlling stake in Toys R Us in 2021, also oversees brands including Vera Wang, Express and Marc Jacobs.
The 2018 Closures
Toys R Us shut most of its U.S. stores in 2018 following its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, part of a collapse that Boston.com reported was crushed by billions in debt. The comeback comes as toy retail faces e-commerce growth and competition from larger retailers, as NBC News has reported.
Former Toys R Us chief executive Gerald Storch offered a more measured warning, estimating that 100 of the smaller stores might generate the sales volume of just a handful of the old traditional locations, according to Fortune. Toys R Us now competes directly with Walmart, Target and Amazon, all of which have absorbed toy shoppers in the years since the chain's collapse.
A Toy Market That's Actually Growing
The comeback attempt lands amid unusually strong conditions for the broader toy industry. U.S. toy sales rose 17% in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Circana. Adult-only households accounted for 55% of toy purchases and grew 16% through June.
Teens and adults together generated nearly 60% of the industry's incremental dollar gains in the first half of 2026, according to NBC News, reflecting a collector and nostalgia-driven surge that has also lifted major toy makers. Fortune reported that many new locations are expected to remain open well into 2027 as the company evaluates their performance.
Local Toy Shops Are Watching Closely
Toys R Us focuses on name-brand toys and licensed products, while independent toy shops offer a different model of toy retail. Boing! Toy Shop in Jamaica Plain is raising $50,000 to expand its programming and plans to build an affordable year-round play space with classes, birthday parties and evening events for adults, with the expansion slated to open next spring.
In Kingston, Maziply Toys has built out an in-store mirror maze with an obstacle course and colored lights, the kind of experiential draw that independent retailers are leaning on to compete. The chain's return raises questions about whether it will crowd out or coexist with independent toy shops.
