It’s been nearly two years since customers have been able to shop at an FAO Schwarz store. That’s about to change… kind of: Department store chain Bon-Ton will open nearly 200 FAO Schwarz toy departments at stores this holiday season. [More]
toys r us
Toys ‘R’ Us Hopes Playrooms & Augmented Reality Stations Will Bring Customers Back
By 10.2.17
If Toys ‘R’ Us is going to survive its recent bankruptcy filing and prevent a domino effect of debt throughout the toy industry, the retailer will need to get shoppers into stores and buying things. The company is hoping that making its stores more interactive for customers — including try-before-you-buy playrooms — will help put it back on the path to solvency. [More]
Toymakers Owed Millions Brace For Hit After Toys ‘R’ Us Bankruptcy
By 9.29.17
Many toymakers say they won’t let Toys ‘R’ Us die after filing for bankruptcy, noting that doing so would be bad for their own businesses. After all, the chain is typically their biggest client. However, it appears there’s more at stake, namely, the millions of dollars the manufacturers are owed. [More]
Toys ‘R’ Us Says Rewards Accounts Being Attacked Using Data Stolen Elsewhere
By 2.6.17 — Updated: 2.7.17
Here’s another example of why you should take experts’ advice when they say not to use the same password on multiple sites: Hackers have been apparently been attempting to breach accounts of Toys ‘R’ Us rewards program members using data they got from other hacks. [More]
Bank Branches, NFL Player, Random Strangers Keep Paying Off Layaway Tabs
By 12.15.16
Stories of layaway angels, or ordinary shoppers who pay off strangers’ layaway tabs in the weeks before Christmas or the beginning of the school year, proliferate in the news at this time of year. They make the legend of Santa Claus—someone who gives gifts while asking for nothing in return—literally come true. [More]
Retailers Beef Up Ship-From-Store Operations To Fill Online Orders
By 12.1.16
For retailers that sell the same merchandise in person and online, shipping online orders from stores makes sense. Running out of hot items can mean ending promotions early or disappointing customers by canceling their orders, neither of which is a good idea during the stressful and crucial holiday season. Yet expanding ship-from-store is not as simple as it sounds at first. [More]
Toys “R” Us Pulls Tonka Riding Truck After One Catches Fire, Explodes, In Real Truck
By 11.21.16
If your Black Friday shopping list included purchasing a rideable Tonka Mighty Wheels Ride-On dump truck from Toy “R” Us, you’ll need to revisit your game plan. The toy retailer announced that it has pulled the truck after a couple says it exploded in the back of their own life-sized pickup truck over the weekend. [More]
Toys ‘R’ Us Sells FAO Schwarz Brand For Undisclosed Sum
By 10.4.16
Last summer, Toys ‘R’ Us closed the last physical store in the FAO Schwarz brand. That cut the legacy of a venerable retail brand down to only a section on the Toys ‘R’ Us website, with its former retail space becoming a flagship store for sporting goods brand Under Armour. Now, the same firm that makes toys and gadgets for Sharper Image, Animal Planet, Smithsonian, and Discovery Kids has purchased the brand. [More]
American Girl Dolls Will Soon Be Available At Toys ‘R’ Us Stores
By 8.31.16
When I was but a young Consumerist, the only way to get your hands on an American Girl doll — once parents had been successfully harangued into purchasing the pricey toy — was by mail order. Since then, Pleasant Company, now a subsidiary of Mattel, has 20 stores around the country dedicated to selling the dolls as well as a website. Times are changing yet again: starting next month, the dolls will also be available at Toys ‘R’ Us stores. [More]
Nearly 501,000 Hoverboards Recalled Over Safety, Fire Hazards
By 7.6.16
Nearly five months ago, major retailer pulled “hoverboard” scooters from shelves after the Consumer Product Safety Commission said the not-actually-hovering devices were unsafe unless they met certain standards. Now the federal safety agency is announcing an official recall of around 501,000 hoverboards. [More]
Federal Prosecutors Accuse Toys ‘R’ Us Employee Of Stealing $2 Million From Accounts For Truckers
By 3.23.16
Here’s how eCash for truck drivers at Toys ‘R’ Us was supposed to work. Authorized employees would load the cash on drivers’ debit cards, and the drivers would use that money for things like meals, lodging, and repairs to their vehicles. Employees other than drivers are not supposed to load up a debit card with company money, then withdraw cash at an ATM. Yet one man is accused of doing exactly that, taking out $1.89 million over a period of almost three years. [More]
Hoverboards Vanish From Amazon… Again
By 2.23.16
The list of retailers removing hoverboards from their virtual store shelves after receiving a warning from federal safety regulators grew again today, with Amazon stopping the sale of the self-balancing scooters for the second time. [More]
Target Stops Sale Of Hoverboards Amid Safety Concerns
By 2.23.16
More than two months after Target temporarily halted the sale of “hoverboards” over safety concerns, the retailer is at it again, removing the self-balancing scooters from its website. [More]
Toys ‘R’ Us Stops Selling Hoverboards Amid Safety Questions
By 2.22.16
Just days after federal safety regulators urged retailers and manufacturers to remove so-called hoverboards from their shelves if they don’t meet certain safety standards set by the Underwriters Laboratory, one of the country’s largest toy stores, Toys ‘R’ Us, did just that. [More]
Toys “R” Us & Babies “R” Us Offering Discounts For Return Of Potentially Dangerous Products
By 1.27.16
Each year manufacturers and federal safety regulators initiate safety recalls for a number of baby- and child-focused products. One major retailer wants to ensure you’ve rid your home of these potentially dangerous items by offering discounts if you trade in the goods for new ones. [More]
Times Square Toys’R’Us Is Full Of Empty Shelves And Sadness
By 12.30.15
Earlier this year, we learned that the huge flagship Toys”R”Us store in New York City’s Times Square would be closing after the toy-centric holiday of Christmas. Today, the store still stands, full of empty shelves and sadness. Also, there’s still a big Star Wars display. [More]
Toys ‘R’ Us Tries Bold Experiment In Actually Stocking Toys
By 12.15.15
Shoppers visit a store called Toys ‘R’ Us because they’re looking for toys, and because they want those toys immediately. Otherwise, wouldn’t they shop online? Yet for the last few years, Toys ‘R’ Us has considered an item “in stock” if they have only three on the shelf, losing out on sales when they didn’t have items that shoppers wanted. [More]
Toys ‘R’ Us Closing 110,000-Square-Foot NYC Flagship Store At End Of The Year
By 12.2.15
This will be the last holiday shopping season for the Toys ‘R’ Us flagship location in Manhattan, as the retailer plans to leave its 110,000-square-foot mega-store at the end of the month. [More]
