Babies ‘R’ US to Return With Store at American Dream Mall

Babies ‘R’ US to Return With Store at American Dream Mall
The American Dream mall in East Rutherford, N.J., on March 18, 2020. Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

Babies “R” Us will reopen its first store at New Jersey’s American Dream Mall this summer, nearly five years after its parent Toys “R” Us closed shop across the country, the retailer’s owner WHP Global said on Tuesday.

Babies “R” Us was the go-to destination for parents looking for cribs, pacifiers, and diaper bags until stores were shut in June 2018. WHP Global said the new store in New Jersey sets the stage for a national rollout in the future.

Toys “R” Us filed for bankruptcy protection in late 2017, straining under a $2.5 billion debt pile. At the time, its bankruptcy was the biggest collapse of a U.S. retailer by assets since Kmart in 2002.

People shop at the Toys R Us store in Macy's Herald Square during Black Friday sales in New York on Nov. 25, 2022. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
People shop at the Toys R Us store in Macy's Herald Square during Black Friday sales in New York on Nov. 25, 2022. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

In late 2021, WHP Global also reopened the first Toys “R” Us store at the American Dream mall, while also expanding its partnership with Macy’s Inc. in 2022 to bring the brand to all of its department stores in the country.

WHP Global in 2021 had bought a controlling interest in Toys “R” Us parent Tru Kids Inc., which was owned by investment funds including Solus Alternative Asset Management.