Toys R Us Set To Make UK Comeback Next Year

All of the UK's 100 Toys R Us shops closed in 2018 after the company's British operations went into administration, affecting around 2,000 jobs.

Despite being of the nation's leading toy retailers, the chain had been battling rising costs and a fall in consumer confidence.

At the time, Simon Thomas of administrator Moorfields, said: "We are grateful for the hard work of everybody at Toys R Us during this extremely difficult and challenging time.

"We are working closely with the 2,000 employees affected by the closures to ensure they receive the support they need for redundancy and other compensatory payments."

However, four years after the permanent closure of its stores, the parent company of Toys R Us and Babies R Us has announced its making a comeback.

It said it has signed a long-term exclusive license agreement to relaunch shops in the UK from next year.

Yehuda Shmidman, Chairman and CEO of parent company WHP Global and Toys R Us, said in a statement: "We selected Toys R Us ANZ as our partner to expand into the United Kingdom because of their proven success in launching with us in Australia under the leadership of their CEO, Dr Louis Mittoni.

"Toys R Us today is a vibrant business with over 900 stores and e-commerce sites across 25 plus countries generating over $2billion a year in sales and growing, especially with the new launches underway for both the US and UK markets."

Stores in both Canada and Australia have been doing well in the past few years, providing hope for regions elsewhere in the world.

Louis Mittoni, Head of Toys R Us ANZ, added in a statement: "Since Toys R Us' return to Australia in June 2019, we have scaled quickly as customers returned to the much-loved brand and our e-commerce model has proven its success.

"My team and I are looking forward to developing technical and commercial relationships with UK-based vendors and partners and to engage with the many loyal Toys R Us former customers and fans in the UK."