Toys ‘R’ Us opens new store in Norridge

NORRIDGE, Ill. – It’s the return of a former retail giant.

The line for the Norridge Toys ‘R’ Us started forming at 4:45 a.m. Saturday. Moms and dads were feeling nostalgic.

“For me it does. It just brings back memories when I was a kid, and then I get to share it with my grandson,” Yolanda Vazquez said.

It’s a new experience for a new generation.

Toys ‘R’ Us is attempting a comeback when brick and mortar stores are closing and online retailers are thriving. Toys ‘R’ Us opened its second store in the country in Harlem Irving Plaza in Norridge.

Instead of warehouse style with endless aisles, customers found a smaller, more intimate setting.

“We know how important play is for mental health, and we think that the more we can get people to play, the better it is for everybody,” said Executive Vice President of Go! Retail Group Alex Winkelman.

Once one of the world’s largest toy store chains, Toys ‘R’ Us filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017; all 735 U.S. stores closed by summer the following year.

Whether it surives this time will likely depend on whether it can win over kids used to playing in a digital world.

“Kids play with tablets all the time and that’s true, they do, but nothing beats old fashioned play, and the concept of what play is is actually evolving right now. It’s being reinvented,” said James Zahn, editor-in-chief of The Toy Book. “You can see it in a store where the old school and the new school come together and merge. Kids need that.”

The chain’s new owner plans to open a total of 24 stores nationwide.

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