Shopping

Toys R Us is back in the UK four years after going bust

Welcome back Geoffrey.

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 28th September 2022

Christmas has come early for kids and parents across the nation – Toys R Us is officially back up and running in the UK.

The retailer collapsed back in 2018 and closed its 100 stores, leaving gaping holes in retail parks up and down the country.

But now the beloved toy shop chain has made a return – sort of.

The Toys R Us website has relaunched today, with more than 14,000 toys and games up for sale.

Shoppers will find world-famous brands like Lego, Marvel, Crayola and Play-Doh back on sale.

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The new website features a return from the retailer’s legendary mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, who was photographed standing in one of the empty shops with a suitcase back in 2018, breaking everyone’s hearts.

The old Toys R Us in Manchester
Geoffrey the Giraffe saying his goodbyes

A message says: “The world’s greatest toy shop is back! We can’t wait to develop and grow with you and your loved ones, over the coming weeks, months and years!”

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There don’t appear to be any plans at present to bring back bricks-and-mortar toy shops.

The retailer closed due to a change in consumer habits and, like many traditional physical stores, a struggle to keep up with the rise of online shopping.

It teased that it would be making a comeback back in January.

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At the time, Louis Mittoni, head of Toys R US ANZ, said: “Tailoring our successful Australian relaunch plan to the UK echoes the success of other e-commerce ‘platform play’ businesses that have delivered growth and value due to their ability to quickly and cost effectively expand their software, processes, partner relationships and brands into new countries.

“Since Toys R Us’ return to Australia in June 2019, we have scaled quickly as customers returned to the much-loved brand and our e-commerce model has proven its success.

“My team and I are looking forward to developing technical and commercial relationships with UK-based vendors and partners and to engage with the many loyal Toys ‘R’ Us former customers and fans in the UK.”

Featured image: Flickr

Shopping

IKEA announces decision to close popular Greater Manchester site

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

It’s the end of the road for one of IKEA’s popular Greater Manchester sites.

The Swedish furniture giant has announced its decision to close its ‘Plan and Order Point’ over in Stockport in a couple of weeks time.

The store – which is located in Stockport town centre’s Merseyway Shopping Centre – launched to huge success back in March 2023, and at the time, was the second of this ‘test and trial’ format to open in the UK, becoming a smaller space dedicated to kitchen and home planning, as well as ordering items.

IKEA says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ which plan to take this conceptual format in a direction to ‘better suit the needs of UK customers’.

IKEA is closing its close popular Stockport site this month / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)

Since the opening of the Stockport Plan and Order Point, IKEA claims it has seen an increased demand for Click and Collect services, a desire by customers to shop a smaller selection of home furnishing accessories, as well as the ability to return goods to physical IKEA units, and this is all something which the current location is unable to offer.

Learning from this change in consumer habits, the company says its future Plan and Order Point openings – including in those in other northern cities like Hull and York – will offer these services.

IKEA says it also remains ‘committed’ to trialling new formats, such as its upcoming small stores, one of which will open in nearby Chester later this year.

Luckily for IKEA fans, the retailer has confirmed that its major Greater Manchester store in Ashton-under-Lyne, as well as the neighbouring store in Warrington, will remain open as normal, offering all the services available at Stockport and more.

The Swedish furniture says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ about customer needs / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)

In addition to the upcoming opening of a smaller store in Chester, IKEA has revealed that the North West continues to be an area of interest for future expansion.

“After careful evaluation, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the IKEA Plan and Order Point at Merseyway Shopping Centre,” explained Salma Azad, who is one of IKEA’s Area Managers.

“In the two years since opening, we’ve taken valuable learnings, including how our customers prefer to meet IKEA, and we’ll take these insights into future openings, to serve shoppers in a more impactful way.”

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Thanks to last year’s Click and Collect expansion, Stockport residents can now pick up purchases from Tesco Extra Stockport and Tesco Extra Stretford, as well as the Manchester store and the upcoming small store in Chester. 

Stockport Plan and Order Point’s final day of trading will be on 16 June.

Featured Image – Jon Super (via IKEA)

Shopping

Manchester United tease new collaboration with Manc streetwear brand Drama Call

Danny Jones Danny Jones New Man United Drama Call collab

Manchester United have revealed their latest fashion collaboration with popular homegrown streetwear designers Drama Call, sharing a new teaser on social media.

The football club may be faltering on the pitch, but commercially it’s still one of the best-known and most successful brands on the planet.

More specifically, they’ve made some big splashes when it comes to merchandising and fashion spin-offs in particular, with reproducing retro kits and other collabs like the Adidas x Stone Roses line, which dropped in February last year.

These releases quickly go on to become collector’s items, and that will almost certainly be the case with Man United’s upcoming Drama Call crossover, which they announced in fine fashion – pardon the pun.

Plenty of Drama Call die-hards will be scrambling for this one.

For those unaware of Drama Call, the local fashion label is hugely popular across the region, regularly worn by the likes of Aitch, Headie One and several other celebrities.

This isn’t by any means their first big partnership, though, having recently worked with Adidas directly to release a special ‘Superstar’ shoe that drew in huge queues to their Manchester pop-up.

Drama Call is also known for surprise giveaways in the heart of the city centre and beyond, making sure to stick true to their community-driven roots.

Moston-born rapper Aitch himself joined forces with the team to hand out hundreds of freebies and Christmas presents last year. Wholesome stuff.

It’s actually not even the first time Drama Call and United have worked either, previously colliding to create a limited edition version of the classic blue 1988 away kit back in 2023.

drama call manchester united fashion
drama call man united crossover
Credit: Manchester United/Drama Call

As for this latest United x Drama Call collab, we have very few details on when the release can be expected; all fans can do is try and glean whatever clues possible from the teaser video above.

We always enjoy footballers trying their hands at acting, no matter the result, to be fair. Who can forget Wayne Rooney meeting Deadpool?…

So, if you’re a fan of the viral streetwear brand, watch this space.

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Featured Images — Manchester United/Drama Call

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