Just before the start of holiday shopping, a new Toys 'R' Us store has opened in Guelph.
On Friday morning, Toys 'R' Us held a ceremony to celebrate the launch of their new, 17,000 square foot space inside Stone Road Mall.
To help celebrate, Toys 'R' Us held giveaways for kids and parents as families shopped inside the store. A mural artist was there to create a mural for the store and a balloon animal arch was also available for photo opportunities.
The Toys 'R' Us mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, made a guest appearance for the event and participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony with Mayor Cam Guthrie and Toys 'R' Us president and CEO, Vic Bertrand.
With Toys 'R' Us opening, Mayor Guthrie says it has created 50 jobs to help support members of the community.
“All jobs are vital,” says Guthrie, explaining that when people have extra income, their spending goes back into the local economy.
As the unemployment rate continues to decline in Guelph, Guthrie adds residents should be supporting any new business that opens during the pandemic.
“I want to see those stores filled." he said.
For Toys 'R' Us, the pandemic has caused some changes to their shopping experience for customers.
“We have all of the (COVID) protocols in place, and all of those standards have been either at par or elevated for our shopping experience,” says Bertrand, “We removed all the demo tables, all of the play areas, all of the things that kids could touch and get their hands on.”
“So we had to be COVID sensitive, in terms of our merchandising and our presentation.”
Before opening Toys 'R' Us, Bertrand says they had a smaller, express store called Jefferey’s Toy Box operating at the mall. After receiving a good response from customers at Jeffrey’s Toy Box, and a successful soft launch for their new store, Bertrand says they decided to go ahead with opening Toys 'R' Us.
“It gave us the confidence to do this and we’re super excited,” says Bertrand.
As families flocked in and out of the store during the opening festivities, Bertrand commented how excited Toys 'R' Us is to be part of a vibrant community.
“We’re super happy to be here,” says Bertrand, “Guelph is such an awesome town."
