Whilst toy sales will go directly to manufacturers, Toy R Us will make money from manufacturers paying to sell the goods in-store.

Tru Kids, the company created in February that looks after the Toys R Us and Babies R Us brands, is opening two new Toys R Us stores in America for summer 2019. The two stores will open in the Galleria in Houston, Texas and the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey. The stores will be roughly 6,500 square feet, smaller than existing and past US Toy R Us stores.

While toys will be available for purchase, all sales will go directly to manufacturers, without Tru Kids acting as a middleman. Instead, the company will make money from manufacturers paying a fee to sell goods in Toys R Us locations. Customers will be able to see and interact with every toy for sale in-store, which will be from both big-name brands and smaller companies. Kiosks available in stores will allow customers to order from a wider assortment of products online.

As an experiential retailer, b8ta has entered into a joint venture with Tru Kids to open the Toys R Us stores. The new Toys R Us stores will follow b8ta’s business model, marketing themselves as an appealing spot for manufacturers by offering tech, data, and insights, as well as high-traffic locations in malls and other busy urban centres.

Philip Raub, co-founder and president of b8ta, commented: “What b8ta is bringing to the table is going to be our b8ta business model, really thinking kind of more subscription based, placement within the stores, being able to provide rich data analytics for makers.

Tru Kids and b8ta plan to open 10 more Toys R Us locations in 2020 with a slightly larger format of around 10,000 square feet.