
That’s because toys are a special category. But after Brookstone closed its stores, we didn’t see Amazon issue a paper catalog aimed at increasing its sales of foot spas. The company was one of 2018’s many retail casualties-Sears, Mattress Firm, Claire’s, Brookstone, and Nine West also went bankrupt.

Which brings us back to Toys "R" Us, Inc. For the holidays, at least, people like shopping brick and mortar. As expected, people did a lot of their shopping online (a whopping $1 billion in sales came from orders placed on smartphones alone), but the majority of Americans engaged in some combination of online and in-person shopping, including buy online / pick-up in store options. holiday retail sales around Thanksgiving this year totaled $7.9 billion. Toys are one of the highest selling categories of goods around the holidays, and U.S. Consumer confidence in the health of the economy is at a 20-year high, meaning people are more likely to spend in general. world, but small independent toy sellers are also feeling good. Target, Walmart and Costco have done especially well in a post-Toys "R" Us, Inc.

Even Buzzfeed is getting into the brick-and-mortar toy selling business.Ĭonsumers, meanwhile, have been happy to spread their cash around. Penney, Five Below, BJ’s, Michaels and Best Buypromising larger toy inventories and in-store experiences. Other brick and mortar retailers followed suit, with Party City, Kohl’s, J.C. Within a few months of its motion to liquidate, Walmart, Target and Amazon announced their plans to boost their toy inventory in time for the 2018 holiday shopping season, eager to take over Toys "R" Us, Inc.’s sizeable share of the $36.8 billion U.S. closed all of its stores earlier this year after efforts to resolve its mounting debt were unsuccessful. world, the demise of one brick and mortar retailer could be a boon to many others that are vying for retail supremacy this holiday season. The loss of the international toy seller leaves billions of dollars in toy sales up for grabs, and its slow and steady decline may serve as a catalyst for retailers to evolve and stay relevant.

This year marks the first Christmas in modern memory without Toys "R" Us, Inc.
