Toys R Us coming to Newbury town centre

A popular toy store is to gain a new lease of life, opening in Newbury town centre later this year.

Toys R Us is to open a shop-in-a-shop in WHSmith’s Northbrook Street branch.

A planning application has been lodged with West Berkshire Council seeking permission to alter the exterior signs to the store.

Already housing a post office, the WHSmith store’s new signage will be divided into three, detailing each shop.

There will also be a window graphic highlighting Toys R Us offers.

Planning permission is needed because the store is in a heritage area with several Grade II-listed buildings nearby.

Once opened, the Toys R Us will include popular products and activities from top toy brands such as Barbie, Bluey, Fisher Price, Hot Wheels, LEGO, Marvel, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig, Playmobil, and Star Wars.

If it is similar to the Reading branch which opened last summer, demonstration tables will let children play with toys, and a lifesize Geoffrey the Giraffe sculpture will be available for photo opportunities.

There is currently no opening date available.

Toys R Us entered administration in 2018, closing 100 stores across the country, making 3,200 staff redundant, following the collapse of its US parent company.

Last year, the firm returned to the UK with the first shop-in-shop branches including one in the Reading WHSmith.

In all, 39 stores opened in the first wave, and now the roll-out is expanding.

To see the application, log on to https://publicaccess.westberks.gov.uk/ and search for reference 24/01462/ADV.

For those who really like Toys R Us, Thatcham-based Office Furniture Newbury has a giant-sized statue of the company’s mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe.

It is around 4.5 metres high, with an arm span just under three metres.

The company estimates that it cost £3,800 to create, and it was on display in its head office in Maidenhead before it shut.

It is on sale for £1,000, with a suggestion that it is of interest to a collector or a community centre running children’s groups.

WHSmith has been contacted for a comment.