Here is another Toys R Us store closure from my archives. As I clean up my remaining articles, a few have slipped through the cracks. Enjoy this post from about 4 years ago.
March 10, 2018 visit. This visit was just prior to the announcement of the liquidation of the chain. The atmosphere of the store was fairly sad, at this point the news of the pending closure of the chain was considered a very credible rumor. Days later the announcement was made.
Road sign
The view of the checkouts from the video game and electronics department.
This is the right side of the store just past the video game and electronics department.
Bikes, at the corner of the right side of the store.
Nerf display, they had some really fun looking toys at this time. I wonder what happened to the video display in the middle.
Looking from the back of the store near the bikes to the front of the store.
These Star Wars toys would have been tops on my Christmas list back in the day.
Sharper Image toys.
More collectibles.
Mini-arcade games and Nintendo Classic controllers. The Nintendo Classic was very difficult to find in 2018 just before they re-released the min-colsoles.
The Babies R Us and Kids R Us section of the store in the left corner.
The excellent Lego department. We still have yet to see anything this bold in any other big box store. At least we still have the Lego mall stores.
At this point in time, the Nintendo Switch console had just made the one-year anniversary.
Toys R Us always had a good selection of trading cards.
More of the video game and electronics department.
The exit door had last chance candies, stickers, and trinkets for sale.
Now for the store closing photo set. Photos taken June 20, 2018, days prior to the permanent closure of the store.
Only about a quarter of the store was still open to customers. The rest of the store was sadly barricaded off.
Since so much of the store was closed off, there was not much to see.
The front of the store.
A few boxed bikes were still left over.
On the way out.
Final view of the store.
As of 2022, this exit only sign is still intact. Spirit Halloween has taken over this location a few times since the Toys R Us closed.
More to come, stay tuned.
Although I never did shop at this Toys R Us, I do remember their location across from The Woodlands Mall in the shopping center with Target Greatland, Service Merchandise, and OfficeMax. I did shop at those places. I suppose that shopping center has seen a lot of turnover over the years. It's hard to believe that area is nearly 30 years old now! I remember when it was new. I did work in the area, but even that is starting to feel like a long time ago. I think The Woodlands Mall Sears was still open the last time I was in the area, but I think it was already known that the store would close and become Nordstrom.
ReplyDeleteSeeing those sports cards shows how quickly things change in sports. I see displays for Andrew Luck, Tony Romo as a Cowboy, and Odell Beckham as a Giant. All of that seems like ancient history now!
Although this TRU was probably too new to ever see authentic NES controllers for sale in it, it is interesting to see new-style NES controllers at a modern TRU. The Genesis was probably still around when this TRU was new so that does seem appropriate for this location.
The interior of this store doesn't feel all that different from TRUs that are over a decade older than it. These TRUs did have a pretty consistent feel to them.
The Willowbrook Mall area TRU, the newer one that replaced the one out by the railroad tracks, appears set to be turned into a Best Buy Outlet. Currently, Best Buy Outlet is in the old Kmart/Venture space across 249, but it looks like they want a bigger spot and so they're making the move to the old TRU.
It sounds like it has been some time ago that you were able to visit the Woodlands. If anything, you should try the House of Pies location in front of the shopping center by Chili's.
DeleteWith the exception of Tom Brady and to an extent OBJ, the NFL has really changed who they focus on these days. Even both of those players have changed teams since then. Four years ago, Patrick Mahomes was a backup to Alex Smith and names like Kirk Cousins and Jimmy Garoppolo were desired QB's getting massive contracts. The league certainly changes fast.
Nintendo had the redesigned controllers for the later versions of the NES systems, it may have come out when this store was open. Willowbrook, Greenspoint and Deerbrook were the nearest stores to this one for a while. I do still bring out my NES Classic from time-to-time and relive the classics. There is a limited amount of NES games also on the Nintendo Switch, but I prefer the mini since I added some extra games to the system.
I would like to see the latest version of Toys R Us in the near future. I haven't been to the Deerbrook Mall Macy's in a couple of months so things may be changing there. The stores were supposed to open this year and the Christmas season is already about 6 months away. It would be really cool to get a large store like they have in New Jersey, but realistically that will probably never happen. We got lucky to have one of the two locations of their failed concept store here at least.
I wonder if I can get the TRU road sign off of the Willowbrook store somehow. They just flipped the signs around and they were still there when I visited your nearby Fiesta. The TRU shopping center seems like an odd choice, that parking lot is difficult to get to off of the freeway unless you ride the feeder road on the exit ahead of FM 1960. It is a short trip off of the mall ring road so there is some access there.
Yeah, the House of Pies (which was a Black Eyed Pea before that) is pretty good, glad I discovered it when I moved over to the area. I did go to this TRU quite often to get various Hot Wheels and other die cast cars and was really sad when it closed. I have a picture of the store from late 2018 with the sign still up.
DeleteAnd here's a picture of my childhood TRU in Corpus Christi from 1996 (now Ollie's Bargain Outlet): https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/1e77d008091505954c42241b1723cac8bce0d96d/c=0-87-1360-855/local/-/media/2018/03/14/TXGroup/CorpusChristi/636566419903874172-ToysRUs-1996-001.jpg
I can see Ollie's eventually moving into the Woodlands location if they continue to expand in the Houston area. We go to House of Pies twice a year at least. We haven't been in 2022 yet, but we went three times in 2021.
DeleteThat is a sweet looking Toys R Us. It reminds me of my childhood as well, the TRU in Humble Texas (my closest store) and so many others looked like that one.
They remodeled it twice in the 2000s. The first remodel moved the entrances to the side and the second brought them back to the center. I've heard good things about Ollie's and I hope they do open in The Woodlands as I've never been to one before
DeleteThe building is in great shape in comparison to other Toys R Us stores of this era. Even some of the converted Ollie's locations have issues. There is one Northwest side Ollie's near FM 1960 and Jones Rd. that is worth checking out.
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