Regina Toys “R” Us Shutters, Five Survive

Within the last week, the Regina, Saskatchewan location of Toys “R” Us closed, and the location has been entirely removed from the retailer’s website.

An Instagram comment claims that the location closed August 23, with Winnipeg, Manitoba’s final store at Polo Park set to close August 31. DisKingdom has not been able to verify either date, as Toys “R” Us Canada locations typically refers media questions to head office, and head office typically does not reply.

The 41st store in the chain opened Saturday, September 26, 1992. There were to be 44 locations by November, an expansion despite the country and much of the world only just emerging from a years long recession. At opening, the 30,000-square-foot, $2.5 million store had 50 to 75 full- and part-time employees, according to Regina’s The Leader-Post.

The building remains for sale by Urban Reform Realty Inc.

Owner Doug Putnam tried unsuccessfully to revive the brand after his 2021 purchase. Perhaps because he’s based in Hamilton, the same Instagram post’s photos show that city’s store looking relatively intact, like it was just another day in 2023.

Attempts to rejuvenate the brick-and-mortar store included opening a Toys “R” Us Express at Lawrence Allen Centre in Toronto in 2022. It was replaced by a slightly larger format the next year, but still a much more compact footprint than their traditional big box outlets. That location closed in either January or February, with the mall suing for unpaid rent. In total, eleven locations were opened in 2023, as part of this push, some of the larger ones which were located in old Bed Bath & Beyond locations.