Toys R Us
“Can the Toys R Us brand generate sustainable retail and e-commerce revenue as a licensed specialty toy chain after emerging from bankruptcy?”
Founded1948
HQParsippany, NJ (current operating entity); New York, NY (TRU Kids, Inc.)
Latest roundDebt Refinancing (C$120M facility, 2025)
IndustryE-commerce / Retail
The story
Founded in 1948 as a specialty toy retailer, Toys R Us grew into one of the world's largest toy chains before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017 under the weight of leveraged-buyout debt and e-commerce competition. The brand was relaunched post-bankruptcy under TRU Kids, Inc. (later acquired by WHP Global), which operates a scaled-back version of the brand through e-commerce and licensed store partnerships. The current entity operates toysrus.com in the US, toysrus.co.uk in the UK, and Toys R Us Canada as a separate subsidiary with its own retail footprint of 80+ stores.
Product timeline
1948
Founded as a toy retail chain, eventually growing into a global specialty toy retailer.· pivot
2017
Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States and parallel CCAA proceedings in Canada.· pivot
2019
TRU Kids, Inc. (later acquired by WHP Global) relaunched the Toys R Us brand, operating e-commerce and licensed retail.· pivot
2025
Wingspire Capital provided a C$67 million revolving line of credit to Toys R Us Canada as part of a broader C$120 million facility agented by Gordon Brothers.· lending
The stack
2 layers disclosed in Toys R Us’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Lending
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
1 more provider across 1 layer, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.