The Energon Pub

[william-james88]

Whenever I bring up Toys'R'Us, someone points out the US closing. It's gotten a little annoying tbh, especially when they have to tell me 'TRU is closed, what are you talking about'... not in Canada.

Agreed!
The first comment on twitter whenever an article like this is posted is "What's toysrus" or "Toysrus, you sure about that?" or some BS like that. Its annoying, but we all know why they do it, they are just jealous

So for something different then.

Your video is geo-blocked.

That sucks though, no wonder it wasnt showing up

[KTRfan224]

Toys R Us is still in Korea since they've always been part of Lotte malls. As for Transformers... pretty much non-existent other than TLK and Studio Series...

[Editor]

TRU Canada has been doing the Chief Play Officer for a while. I know I've seen segments on Breakfast Television Vancouver with the CPO over the last few years.

Even with the troubles last year, they had a child in the position.

[TFanPage101]

Whenever I bring up Toys'R'Us, someone points out the US closing. It's gotten a little annoying tbh, especially when they have to tell me 'TRU is closed, what are you talking about'... not in Canada.

Agreed!
The first comment on twitter whenever an article like this is posted is "What's toysrus" or "Toysrus, you sure about that?" or some BS like that. Its annoying, but we all know why they do it, they are just jealous

My favorite (not really) is always the 'You sure about that' comments. Or like I made the mistake.

[o.supreme]

well, if it doesn't exist in murica... . Seriously though, in a recent episode of The Simpsons, they did a mock up of one of those old contests, where one lucky kid would try to fill up his shopping cart with as much as he could in 5 minuets. Of course the Simpsons version twisted it, (Krusty Toy store instead of TRU) and had 3 contestants (Bart, Ralph & Milhouse), it was more a race, rather than a timed event, and only one of the 3 kids would get to keep all the stuff they grabbed.

My instant reaction was to feel sad in that most kids wont even understand the reference. But I guess that would only be kids in the US.

---And honestly, I'm not jealous. I am saddened at the closing here, but genuinely happy for others that still have TRU available to them. There are still articles about the potential return in the U.S. via website sometime this fall, and KB toy stores possibly returning....I know not every one of them is newsworthy, until something more definitive comes forth.


Also for the record, everyone says Blockbuster Video has been dead for years (it basically is... ), but there is still one store left in operation

[william-james88]

---And honestly, I'm not jealous. I am saddened at the closing here, but genuinely happy for others that still have TRU available to them. There are still articles about the potential return in the U.S. via website sometime this fall, and KB toy stores possibly returning....I know not every one of them is newsworthy, until something more definitive comes forth.

Well the closing of toysrus in the US was not completely unexpected by collectors. It was the death of an era but many had not set foot in there for collecting purposes, as I understood it. It stayed alive in the countries where it had good management, good initiatives and good inventory practices, what a big coincidence

And yeah, I see those articles too. They will become newsworthy the minute they sell Transformers toys. And I dont know when that will happen because Hasbro is mega burnt over it.

One last bit about dead franchises, in Canada Dunkn Donuts is (almost) officially dead. It was big once but with Tim Hortons becoming so big, Dunkn didnt bother putting up a fight and didnt support Canadian franchisees. So little by little it all crumbled until there were just a few left in Quebec (my province). Last year they closed the final 4 BUT one of them stayed open and simply changed the name. So you can still buy Dunkn Donuts at 1 store in all of Canada haha.

[william-james88]

It’s a reversal of fortunes between the US and Canada. Back in 2018, Toysrus shut down operations in the US but kept all its Canadian stores. However after changing hands a few times, Toysrus Canada has become a pale husk of what it once was, being very similar to what the US Toysrus stores were at the end; overpriced with barely any new stock.

And all this has lead to Canadian stores closing left and right, with 40 stores closing in 2025 alone and leaving huge metropolitan areas with no stores. Meanwhile, the brand is seeing a rejuvenation in the US.

30 stores are planned to open this year, in the US, with a pop up in a Nashville mall opening just last week. While most will be temporary stores for the holidays, there should be 10 flagship stores opened by the end of the year as well. Of course, it’s to be seen if this will be a good place to pick up the latest Transformers toys or not. Let us know if you visit any of the newly opened stores.

[Emerje]

TRU becoming Spirit Halloween is really something. Let's see them expand everywhere, I'm down for it.

Emerje

[megatran]

Wow. What a necro bump!

What's that proverb about doing the same thing and expecting a different result?

[Drop Bear]

Wow. What a necro bump!

What's that proverb about doing the same thing and expecting a different result?

60% of the time it works every time. Or maybe I'm getting that mixed up with something else...

[cloudballoon]

Canadian here. While sad for the nostalgia of TRU of days gone by, honestly I haven't missed it since 2020. It's probably a good thing that TRU Canada is done for, as Hasbro will be forced to find someone else to carry the Target exclusives. Walmart and EBGames have got to be better, right? RIGHT?

[NotFrankeSisto]

Best news I've had all day honestly.

But the question is: WHERE will the stores be opening? Like... which cities?

[megatran]

With the tariff situation and change to deminis threshold, does this give TRU US a fighting chance, even with their typically high price?

[Cyberstrike]

All I've seen of TRU is that it is name of Macy's toy department.