Tomica Hypercity (UK) Product Launch

It'll be interesting to see for sure, here in the UK since the departure of Toys R Us, an Irish company called Smyths has since arrived and gone from a few outlets here and there to more or less a national chain with branches in most major towns, including many places that formerly had a Toys R Us - Smyths's buisness model is effectively identical to Toys R Us, being a bulk-sale discount chain with huge stores and large amounts of stock, selling baby goods, toys and video games - They are, more or less, exactly what Toys R Us was, but with considerably more branches than Toys R Us ever had here as far as I can tell, many being in smaller or more out of the way places that never had a Toys R Us before.

Previously Toys R Us in the UK leaned towards fewer, but extra-large sized branches located in out-of-town retail parks [our name for strip-malls] in major centres, with only a few being located within town centres themselves - At their height, Toys R Us UK had 105 branches, and Smyths now have 90 branches, with plans for further expansion, which when you consider around 5 years ago, Smyths was still a relatively small player compared to the then-extant Toys R Us, is very impressive, as they basically filled the void that Toys R Us left, and have managed to successfully hold their own ever since.

Interestingly, they also own the former branch network of Toys R Us in at least Germany, Switzerland and Austria as far as I know, with Toys R Us branches being rebranded to Smyths, so that should give you an idea how Smyths has effectively become Europe's Toys R Us.

So, as I see it, it's very interesting that Toys R Us would actually try to consider re-entering the UK market, as while I'm all for it [nothing like a good large-scale toyshop after all], given that Smyths has established a significant foothold in their absence and has more or less come to dominate the market that they once occupied, it'll be curious to see what Toys R Us do to try and stand out, as I don't see their original model working here anymore given that Smyths has more or less adapted said model, and dominated it here, so Toys R Us are going to need some kind of new gimmick to stand out; That said, brand loyalty is a strong factor, and given that for many years Toys R Us was at the forefront of UK mass toy retailing and was the first ever 'toy superstore' to reach UK shores, it's a name that holds significant nostalgia for many, and that alone might give them a foothold. 

Personal opinion - Maybe Toys R Us should aim for a mix of larger superstores as they had previously, and centralised mall locations in town centres; In the UK presently, we have only one high-street/mall based toy chain, The Entertainer, who are great, but are literally the only chain-based competition for Smyths, who are almost solely out-of-town based - Beyond that, it's independent chains and Hamleys for toy specialists, plus general retailers with a toy selection for smaller selections. It might be an idea for Toys R Us to mix their outlets therefore, so they're not trying to go up against either chain directly, as I think somehow a blended chain that offers an alternative destination to both rival chains and their formats would be ideal.