Tomica Hypercity (UK) Product Launch

[Super]

Probably in name only then. What I would be hoping for is that they came back like they were before in the fact that they would have made for them, Exclusive toys with their name on it which, imo, separated them from just a regular toy store like the Smyths sounds like. Am I correct in that the name Toys-R-Us was bought and that is what is returning and not the original owners?

Kind of?

Basically, I believe that the Australian division of Toys-R-Us is the one planning a return to the UK, as they own the rights to the chain over there and run it independently following the model of the original, since the parent company went bust. Effectively this means that Toys R Us Australia is kind of a successor to the parent chain, and as such runs their chain similar to how the original was managed, as far as I know. Therefore, were they to re-open here, it would probably resemble the Toys R Us we remember, as the Australian division appears to be using the old model.

https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/202...gic-brits/

That said, this article indicates, at least initially, Toys R Us UK will be an online-only store, followed by a 'hybrid retail offering', whatever the heck that means   Given Smyths has proven physical superstores do still have a market, we can assume maybe some superstores will return, but perhaps less of them than previously.

Because there is no Toys R Us UK anymore, in theory the Australian division is in the clear to return the chain verbatim [exactly as per the original chain in design and format] to the UK, as the Australian chain appears to be/have been a mirror-image of the old US chain, much as the UK version used to be, and because Toys R Us USA no longer has any presence in the UK division, there would be no issues regarding who owns the rights to the UK chain or the rights to re-open Toys R Us in the UK, as presently, nobody does, because there isn't one - Smyths is like Toys R Us, but that's where the connections end, other than their purchase of a significant portion of Continental Europe's Toys R Us chain to rebrand as Smyths.

Incidentally, Smyths is peculiar in that they don't so much have a private-label set of brands, but they are the exclusive supplier of a number of brands, including some generic toylines which I suppose one could say are their equivalent to own-brand/private-label; None are branded as 'Smyths' though, and the only way to find any connection to them with the product is to check the manufacturer's label, which invariably reads 'Imported by Smyths Toys' with no indication of the original manufacturer in most cases. Additionally, they do stock a range of exclusive products that aren't avaliable anywhere else, from name brand toylines, so in many respects they have copied the model of Toys R Us, although these 'exclusives' are sometimes avaliable online from other sellers; Smyths exclusivity seems to be high-street only.

So, on the whole, it's anyone's guess as to what form the new Toys R Us will take, but if Smyths is a good example, then I believe that Toys R Us may eventually return in the superstore format we all once knew; How long that may take, however, is up for debate.

As it happens, I might be going to a Smyths branch later, so i'll get some pictures if I can and you guys can see exactly what i'm talking about, but yeah, it's fair to say at least for now, Smyths is basically our Toys R Us. Expect pictures of the doll aisle at the very least, since there's no Plarail aisle [boo hiss] and that's what i'm going there to look at lol 

Ask and you shall recieve

A few pictures of the Chelmsford branch of Smyths; I got there with 5 minutes before closure so I had to hurry through, but to be honest, it's exactly what the pictures show; High-level rack shelves, large retail park location, and basically every concievable toyline currently avaliable that isn't exclusive to any other store chain.



As with Toys R Us, Smyths do have exclusive products sold only through their stores/online network, although occasionally I have seen these exclusives sold online at retailers like Amazon.








As you can see, the format/layout is very similar to Toys R Us, with similar arrangements like a dedicated bike/garden toy section, a dedicated gaming/technology section, a dedicated baby product section called 'The Baby Room', and of course the majority of the store, toys. The apperance and layout of all branches are more or less identical no matter which you visit, with the only differences being where certain sections are positioned; All stores, generally speaking, carry the same products & the same amounts of product, although some larger stores may have more selection.

The stores in footprint are generally somewhat smaller [compact, single retail units, usually inherited from another retailer instead of being custom built] than Toys R Us UK used to be [which always were extra-large, single floor superstores, built for the purpose], but generally make up for this by having a first floor where possible or nessecary, with the gaming section located upstairs normally in this case. Generally speaking, Smyths stores tend to be in out-of-town retail parks [the UK name for strip malls] as there are larger retail units to be found here, although a few are in more centralised locations as not all UK retail parks are out-of-town.

The Continental Europe branches, having inherited the former Toys R Us networks there, appear to use the original Toys R Us format with Smyths branding, making these distinct from the UK design which is similar to, but not the same as the Toys R Us format. It can be assumed this was done to save re-modelling costs as these branches were already set up to serve the right purpose, whereas many of the UK Smyths branches were new-builds, or moved into empty shop units [If I recall, the Chelmsford branch pictured used to be a garden furniture store], so therefore it was a given that a new design that could be adapted to whatever stores were purchased was needed.

So, that's Smyths, the UK and Europe's current equivalent to Toys R Us; As noted, it will be very curious to see exactly how Toys R Us proposes to move forwards in a market where Smyths has adapted and made their original model profitable and successful, when the original Toys R Us collapsed in the face of online competition, at least here in the UK.

Incidentally, I was there to get a Barbie 'Colour Reveal Mermaid' blind-box doll; Smyths have the most comprehensive Barbie, or indeed most comprehensive general doll selection on the UK retail market at the moment, and the idea of a Barbie that one has to immerse in water to reveal the design intrigued me - But that's a different story for a different post/site 

[EDIT - Genius here just discovered that Smyths actually bought some of the Toys R Us network here in the UK, because of course they did - Pictured is the branch in Harlow, which isn't even that far from me, and to be fair I didn't even know they had a Toys R Us, but it figures that Smyths bought some of the former Toys R Us network here as well - How many is anyone's guess, but it can be assumed to be several, as Toys R Us had 100-odd locations at their height]

does hypercity even sell in the UK anymore? love tomy and would love if i could get it without silly shipping