Kids R Us

[Dean]

Kids R Us was the clothing store of Toys R Us.

They have since combined the clothes within the Toys R Us sites.

The Kids R Us stores had a distinct elongated oval-type main window, generally to the extreme right side of the store.

San Bernardino, on "E" Street, is currently the San Bernardino County Fire Marshal's Office.
Puente Hills, on Colima Road, I believe is currently vacant.

Others?! Unique conversions?!

[Jeff]

Covina's KRU was converted to be part of Burt's Mega Mall for boats. The main showroom was a former Target/Fedmart.

Rosemead's KRU was converted to an Office Depot.

[ajc47]

There was a Kids R Us where I got a lot of my clothes long ago in Eastgate(Mayfield OH), that was only a few doors down from Finast supermarket. It's not there now, I think Circuit City is but I haven't been there in awhile.

[luckysaver]

Geoffrey Inc (dba Toys R Us) also operates Babies R Us, which sells baby furniture, clothes, supplies, and accessories, and of course, baby's first toys.

There is a location at Westfield Eastland in West Covina adjacent to a Mervyns. There are far fewer BRU locations than there are TRU.

On a related note:

A brand new TRU just opened on Chino Hills Parkway at the 71 Freeway in the Commons shopping center in Chino. It replaces the much older Pomona Marketplace store on 60 Freeway at Garey, which is undergoing a storewide liquidation sale.

luckysaver

[Jeff]

A brand new TRU just opened on Chino Hills Parkway at the 71 Freeway in the Commons shopping center in Chino. It replaces the much older Pomona Marketplace store on 60 Freeway at Garey, which is undergoing a storewide liquidation sale.

luckysaver

Which makes sense then to as why that store is closing. I didn't know they had opened one down the freeway. Also, that store in Pomona was ridiculous to get in and out of.

[MBZ321]

The ones around the Philly area all became Office Depot's.... (they were pretty much non-existent in the area before that).

[luckysaver]

City of Industry (Puente Hills) - Colima and Albatross

That store moved several years ago to the nearby Toys R Us as a department inside the store.
There was a mini Babies R Us department inside that old KRU. I'm not sure what replaced that site. The adjacent Good Guys became Superco Appliances recently.

I believe McDonald's McKids line of clothes/toys started out in TRU/KRU stores until I found some at Walmart.

luckysaver

[RXSQ]

The Riverside Kids R Us was located at 10481 Magnolia Ave., just west of Tyler Street (and the Galleria at Tyler). It took up about 1/3 of the space within a former Gemco (the rest being a Lucky's supermarket, post-Gemco). As part of the remodel for KRU, it contained the long, oval window that Dean pointed out as being seen in many of the early KRUs.

The building itself was built in the late 1970s for Gemco, but has been empty for most of the past 5-10 years as both KRU and Lucky's closed. In fact, the building was demolished within the past year as plans for a mixed-use development moved ahead. However, as with many projects these days, the development appears stalled.

On a related note, the main Riverside Toys R Us is located in the adjacent shopping center (10391 Magnolia Ave.). It opened in 1986 on the site of the former Magnolia Lanes bowling alley (which sported the classic 1950s bowling atmosphere). However, even with being located close-by, the synergy between TRU and KRU was never fully realized due to poor sight lines.

[Ephrata1966]

The ones around the Philly area all became Office Depot's.... (they were pretty much non-existent in the area before that).

Actually, there was the Office Depot in West Chester, which seems to have closed in 2001, but reopened as Office Depot in 2004. How can that be?

[Barstow2Needles]

The Riverside Kids R Us was located at 10481 Magnolia Ave., just west of Tyler Street (and the Galleria at Tyler). It took up about 1/3 of the space within a former Gemco (the rest being a Lucky's supermarket, post-Gemco). As part of the remodel for KRU, it contained the long, oval window that Dean pointed out as being seen in many of the early KRUs. The building itself was built in the late 1970s for Gemco, but has been empty for most of the past 5-10 years as both KRU and Lucky's closed.

If I recall correct, the building had the mid/late 1980's inspired white stucco wall, Spanish tiles and pink accents--did it always look that way? I'm curious to know how it looked when it was still a Gemco.

On a related note, the main Riverside Toys R Us is located in the adjacent shopping center (10391 Magnolia Ave.). It opened in 1986 on the site of the former Magnolia Lanes bowling alley (which sported the classic 1950s bowling atmosphere).

This Toys R Us was built in the classic 1970s exterior look: rainbow strips along the outside front entrance wall and "castle-shaped" shingle mansard roof. If I recall correct, the exterior remained the same into the late 1990s. I suppose the remodel took place sometime in the 2000's, however I'm not exactly sure when.

[RXSQ]

The Riverside Kids R Us was located at 10481 Magnolia Ave., just west of Tyler Street (and the Galleria at Tyler). It took up about 1/3 of the space within a former Gemco (the rest being a Lucky's supermarket, post-Gemco). As part of the remodel for KRU, it contained the long, oval window that Dean pointed out as being seen in many of the early KRUs. The building itself was built in the late 1970s for Gemco, but has been empty for most of the past 5-10 years as both KRU and Lucky's closed.

If I recall correct, the building had the mid/late 1980's inspired white stucco wall, Spanish tiles and pink accents--did it always look that way? I'm curious to know how it looked when it was still a Gemco.

Yes, excepting some minor re-working of doors/windows in the main entrance area post-Gemco, the building looked exactly as it did -- white stucco with Spanish tiles, etc. -- when it opened in approximately 1979/80.

On a related note, the main Riverside Toys R Us is located in the adjacent shopping center (10391 Magnolia Ave.). It opened in 1986 on the site of the former Magnolia Lanes bowling alley (which sported the classic 1950s bowling atmosphere).

This Toys R Us was built in the classic 1970s exterior look: rainbow strips along the outside front entrance wall and "castle-shaped" shingle mansard roof. If I recall correct, the exterior remained the same into the late 1990s. I suppose the remodel took place sometime in the 2000's, however I'm not exactly sure when.

Indeed, the front of this store once had the classic 1970s/1980s mansard roofline and rainbow of colored stripes. However, due to city design codes, the rainbow only existed above the original main entrance (now the exit - at center) -- the rest of the stripes were simply painted a dark brown -- and not across the entire front as most other TRUs.

Both the interior and exterior received extensive makeovers sometime during the early 2000s. Here's a recent photo showing the updated store front:


Toys R Us
10391 Magnolia Ave., Riverside, CA

[retail_person_247]

I made a list of Kids "R" Us store locations:

https://retail247projecthub.blogspot.co ... store.html

[pseudo3d]

I made a list of Kids "R" Us store locations:

https://retail247projecthub.blogspot.co ... store.html

I think you're missing a few...Kids 'R' Us was on 6135 Westheimer, not part of the Toys 'R' Us at 6145 Westheimer. Kids R Us was an OfficeMax and eventually became Goodwill. Toys R Us closed in bankruptcy and became a Hobby Lobby.

[BillyGr]

I made a list of Kids "R" Us store locations:

https://retail247projecthub.blogspot.co ... store.html

Not sure exactly when, but the closing date for the Albany location (former Northway Mall) is earlier than the other listed location, as they basically moved from one spot to the other. The mall itself was closed off in late 1998, and I am fairly sure that the KRU had left before that happened, but not exactly when. So, the date is at least earlier than Dec 1998.

[retail_person_247]

Thanks for the info,

All corrections have since been made