Kids "R" Us - A Last Minute Revival

Kids "R" Us - A Last Minute Revival

  May 21, 2018    Robby S.

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Remember that time from 1983 to 2003 where Kids "R" Us was a thing? Well I sure don't, but I do know quite a bit about it.

Kids "R" Us was one of Toys "R" Us's subsidiaries, accompanied by Babies "R" Us later on in its lifetime. In 2003, Toys "R" Us decided to pull the plug on the chain and moved its inventory to larger format Toys "R" Us stores until they ran out.

There are quite a few remnants of KRU nationwide, such as the colored Kids "R" Us logo on the Horseheads, NY store

©Southern Retail Blog

Miraculously the KRU signs at this and a few other stores managed to survive 15 years after TRU officially dropped the KRU name.

Additionally, on many of the Toys "R" Us distribution trucks, the trailers still bear the Kids "R" Us name. I found two examples of these trucks at the Waterford, CT and Milford, CT stores.

TRU/KRU Truck at the Waterford, CT Toys "R" Us

TRU/KRU Truck at the Waterford, CT Babies "R" Us

TRU/KRU Truck at the Milford, CT Toys "R" Us

But what I found most striking about Kids "R" Us is Toys "R" Us's attempt to bring life to the brand once again as its operations begin to wind down. I was at the Waterford, CT location today on the lookout for some signs and stuff that I can pick up, but alas I found this: Hidden within the former Kids "R" Us section of the store (now a Babies "R" Us ministore) I found this redesigned Kids "R" Us logo!

Although TRU officially discontinued the brand in 2003, it appears that the new logo was redesigned with the 2007 logo reformatting that Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us both currently use. I've never seen this in a store before, and I think it's odd that TRU decided to reintroduce the brand despite filing for bankruptcy

Excluding this most recent remake of the KRU logo, the latest design was this odd boxy "KRU" logo used at only a handful of stores:

Oddly enough, this also answers the question What color would Toys "R" Us have used for Kids "R" Us if it didn't discontinue the brand? To that, the answer is quite clear: crimson! I've read from some sources online that a 2007 re-launch of Kids "R" Us was planned, however the legitimacy of those claims is questionable but it might explain how Toys "R" Us had the new Kids "R" Us logo just laying around.

Below is a recreation of the Kids "R" Us logo using the crimson color scheme.

The sign was actually two of them back-to-back and I tried to pick up the sign from the store, but sadly the associates wouldn't let me take it. I'm going to try and see if my friend who works there can get it for me, but I'm determined to get it one way or another. At least I snapped a pic of it before it got lost to time. I've currently set up plans to buy the "R" from the Thank you for shopping Babies "R" Us sign at the Waterford, CT store! I should be picking that up in two weeks

Also, it looks like TRU is bringing back some vintage-styled Kids "R" Us era price tags... Take a close look at the price tags on some of the items in the picture with the KRU sign. See how it says "R" Us at the top? This was done in the early 2000s so that price tags could be shared across Toys "R" Us, Babies "R" Us, and Kids "R" Us stores easily. It looks like TRU brought them back in one last nostalgic nod.

Anyways, I thought you guys might find this an interesting find. Let me know below if these oddities have popped up at your local Toys "R" Us store!

Until next time,
~RS