Iconic toy store chain closing stores once again | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

It sucks being a grown-up, doesn’t it?

My kids remind me of that almost every day. Only when you are a kid, you get to experience that pure joy of something new. It could be a brand-new experience, a discovery, or simply a new toy.

When you are older, all grown up and important, somehow you don’t get excited as much. You don’t scream, raise your hands and jump when you get your birthday present, right?

Don’t miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet’s free daily newsletter

I believe we get to become parents so that children can teach us the joy of living that we lost on the way.

While my children definitely have too many toys they don’t need, I still can’t resist the urge to take them shopping for some more, from time to time. Just entering that favorite store is like a magic trip for them. They could spend hours in various sections, examining, and carefully choosing that one toy they’ll get.

And let’s face it. Kids should be kids. They should play, fall, and get up. Not just spend time in front of the screens. It is through play that they learn and develop. It is what keeps the joy in their hearts. So, when their favorite store is closing it’s sad news.

The economic challenges don’t choose, they are taking retailers one by one. Even beloved toy retailers.

Toys “R” Us Canada is closing more stores than it previously announced, while also working on rebranding its locations.

Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Macy’s, Inc&period;

Toys “R” Us Canada’s reviving and rebranding

Toys “R” Us Canada is the biggest specialty retailer of toys and baby products in Canada. It was founded in 1984 by the Canadian franchise of the U.S. toy retail chain Toys “R” Us and started operating independently in 2018.

What happened is that Toys “R” Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017, and closed all U.S. locations in June 2018. At the time, the Canadian unit had annual sales of $1.08 billion, so it filed for protection from its creditors.

The same year, Fairfax Financial acquired 82 Toys “R” Us locations in Canada for $300 million. Three years later, in 2021, Sunrise Records owner Doug Putman, acquired the company through his Putman Investments.

At the beginning of 2025, when it announced some closures, the company also explained it is making space for other concepts within its store, reported CBS.

In 2024, Toys “R” Us Canada teamed up with the entertainment brand HMV and started offering its CDs, DVDs, vinyl, record players and other collector items like T-shirts and books at special sections of its stores.

Furthermore, the company announced some stores will be remodeled to host a Wonderlab, a Toys “R” Us Canada’s concept that includes an indoor playroom and space for sensory activities and arts and crafts.

Toys “R” Us Canada permanently closes several locations

In January, Toys “R” Us Canada announced it would be closing five Ontario stores and remodeling several others in order to “optimize” its business.

At the time, the toy retailer said it plans to close locations in Argyle Mall in London, on Steeles Avenue West in Thornhill, Hurontario Street in Mississauga, Marcus Drive in Sudbury and Centennial Parkway North in Stoney Creek.

In the meantime, however, even more locations have shut their doors permanently.

The latest three Toys “R” Us Canada locations to permanently close its doors are the one in Kelowna on Harvey Avenue, one in Lower Sahali, Kamploos, and one in Belleville’s Quinte Mall.

It appears that the closures of these locations weren’t previously announced, however new signs on their doors say that everything must go, reports Castanet.

On June 13, an employee inside the store in Kamploos at 500 Notre Dame Drive in Columbia Square told CFJC Today that the workers were informed about the closure one day before it happened (June 12).

More Retail:

There’s no data on when each of the stores will be permanently closed, and it is also unknown how many locations Toys “R” Us Canada has closed this year so far, and how many it continues to operate. The company had 81 stores across Canada as recently as last fall.