Toys "R" Us is opening 120 new standalone U.S. stores for the holiday season, and some of them come with a room built for your phone. The company is rolling out Creator Studios, in-store spaces where influencers, creators and toy brands can shoot content, unveil products and host reveals and launch events.
The studios are piloting at five stores: American Dream in New Jersey, Mall of America, and the Camarillo, Denver and Chicago Premium Outlets. The company says more locations will open once they figure out what works. The expansion, run with Go! Retail Group, takes Toys "R" Us from 40 standalone U.S. stores to 160, on top of roughly 400 shops inside Macy's. Some new stores add candy shops and cafés. This is the same brand that filed for Chapter 11 in 2017 and shut hundreds of U.S. stores the next year.
The open question for creators is who gets booked into those rooms. The toy-review lane has always been crowded at the top. Five studios is a small enough test that early bookings will shape who this is built for.
The kids who grew up watching strangers open toys on YouTube are the parents walking these aisles now. Toys "R" Us is betting their kids want to be on the other side of the camera.
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