2 Big NJ Openings Coming Soon: Toys 'R' Us, American Dream

NEW JERSEY – Two of New Jersey's biggest retail openings in years will happen just in time for holiday season.

Toys "R" Us is coming back to New Jersey, and it won't be too far from New Jersey's other big grand opening location: American Dream.

American Dream, the much celebrated mega-mall that will be part-retail and part-theme park, announced a timeline of when each entertainment attraction, restaurant and store will be ready.

The official debut will be Oct. 25, but the retail and entertainment center will be opened in stages. Read more: American Dream: What Will Actually Be Open On Oct. 25?

The first two new Toys "R" Us stores, meanwhile, will open soon at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus and in The Galleria in Houston, Texas, a Simon Mall. Both are expected to open in November.

Though a specific date hasn't been announced, Toys "R" Us announced Tuesday the chain is actually technically back open – online. And those online services will soon be connected to the Paramus store.

The parent company, Tru Kids, announced that Target’s toy assortment, digital capabilities and fulfillment services will support the new online and in-store Toys “R” Us shopping "experiences" in the United States.

ToysRUs.com features videos and articles on the latest trends and hottest toy brands, product reviews, "hot" toy lists and brand experiences to help consumers find toys and gifts for kids of all ages, according to a release from the parent company.

Here's how the online component will ultimately connect to the Paramus store, according to Tru Kids:

• Consumers browsing toys on ToysRUs.com can click “Buy Now at Target.com” to be automatically linked to the same product page on Target.com to complete their purchase.
• Target.com will also host online sales in the Toys “R” Us "experiential" retail stores that will launch in Houston and Paramus.
• The stores will be designed to showcase new products out-of-the-box, and create experiences for kids and families that allow for "in-person product discovery."
• Guests interested in buying items not available in store will work with sales associates in Paramus and Houston who will assist them in completing sales transactions that will be fulfilled through Target.com.
• Consumers will be able to take advantage of all of the benefits when shopping Target.com, including free two-day shipping, same-day curbside or store order pickup, same-day delivery with Shipt, Target Circle loyalty benefits, easy in-store returns and 5 percent off when using a Target REDcard.

With Target’s same-day pick-up and delivery options, Toys“R”Us customers also will be able to get their online purchases ready for pickup or delivery to most U.S. households in as soon as an hour.

“Target’s leadership in toys, digital and fulfillment are an unbeatable platform for Toys 'R' Us to reconnect with their fans while we introduce them to the ease and convenience of shopping at Target,” said Nikhil Nayar, senior vice president of merchandising for Target. “By applying our capabilities in a new way with Toys 'R' Us, we can serve even more toy shoppers, drive new growth, and build on our toy leadership.”

The move comes more than a year after thousands of Toys "R" Us workers lost their jobs when stores throughout New Jersey and the United States finally closed after a year-long battle to keep them open.

Despite the efforts from billionaire CEO Isaac Larian, Toys "R" Us did not accept his bid to save 274 U.S.-based stores and the thousands of jobs they supported.

Larian also would have kept the company's Wayne headquarters open as part of the bid, CNNMoney reported. Between 7,000 and 10,000 jobs would have been saved if the headquarters and stores remained open.

Toys "R" Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy two years ago and later announced it would close or sell all of its 735 U.S. stores. Overall, about 31,000 people lost their jobs, including 1,100 at the Wayne headquarters.

The bankruptcy filing came amid slumping sales and mounting debt, which grew to about $5 billion. The once-popular chain faced increasing competition from Amazon, Walmart and Target. The chain was set to close about 180 of its stores, or about 20 percent.

Toys "R" Us locations in New Jersey were:

• Bridgewater
• Burlington
• Cherry Hill
• Deptford
• East Brunswick
• Elizabeth
• East Hanover
• Eatontown
• Freehold
• Hazlet
• Iselin
• Jersey City
• Lawrenceville
• Livingston
• Manalapan
• Mays Landing
• Mount Olive
• North Brunswick
• Paramus
• Raritan
• Rockaway
• Secaucus
• Toms River
• Totowa
• Union
• Vineland
• Wayne
• Watchung
• West Windsor

The new Toys "R" Us stores will serve as "must-visit destinations for kids to learn, play and fall in love with the latest and most popular toys, and for parents to have fun with their children and ignite their own childlike sense of play," according to a company release.

The stores will be highly interactive with events and activities every day, from seeing toys displayed out-of-the-box to test before buying to "just having fun with Geoffrey the Giraffe" in the open play space, the release said.

"As a kid, my memory of Toys 'R' Us was running up and down the aisles kicking balls and playing with the coolest toys," said Phillip Raub, co-founder and president of b8ta and Interim co-CEO of the Toys "R" Us joint venture.