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![\"Ruth](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4371869_web1_260706-ToyRUS-4-.jpg\")
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Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press<\/p>\n
Shoppers enter the Toys \u2018R\u2019 Us store at 1560 Regent Ave. W. on Monday. The longtime retail location had recently been renovated to add the PlayLab indoor structure and party space.<\/p>\n
Signage at the store does not specify when it will close for good.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the latest local development for the beleaguered retailer, which announced in January it would close its Polo Park location, only to reverse course a few weeks later.<\/p>\n
On Monday, an \u201copen for business\u201d sign hung in the window of that store, located at 1445 St. Matthews Ave. An employee reiterated it was not closing.<\/p>\n
Toys \u201cR\u201d Us Canada has been in creditor protection since February. A numbered company, which operates as Putman Investments, owns the retailer. Putman Investments also runs the Northern Reflections, HMV, Sunshine Records, Ricki\u2019s and Cleo brands.<\/p>\n
Located across the street from Kildonan Place shopping centre, the Transcona-area Toys \u201cR\u201d Us was renovated last year to add PlayLab, a three-level indoor play structure and party space.<\/p>\n
Linda Specht did not know the store was closing until she arrived on Monday with her two-year-old granddaughter for their biweekly playdate at PlayLab.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not good news,\u201d said Specht, 72. \u201cPlayLab is very popular with all the children that come \u2026 It\u2019s a very sad day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The store was also a go-to place for Specht when she needed something for her granddaughter. \u201cWe used to come here and get some nice toys, (from) her baby clothes right up to bikes and other items in between.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meantime, MC Laureano said she was surprised to learn Toys \u201cR\u201d Us still had stores in Winnipeg when she received a gift recently for her five-month-old son that was purchased at the Transcona location. She stopped in on Monday to exchange the gift.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press<\/p>\n Signs in the front windows indicate the closure of the Regent Ave. W. big-box chain outlet which has occupied its current spot for more than 36 years.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of how retail is going: a lot of brick-and-mortar stores are closing,\u201d said Laureano, 39, adding Toys \u201cR\u201d Us is \u201ciconic.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \u201cIt\u2019s always sad when a store closes because it means that people lose jobs. I feel for the employees.\u201d<\/p>\n Founded in Washington, D.C., in 1957, Toys \u201cR\u201d Us expanded into Canada in the 1980s. The Transcona and Polo Park stores opened in the fall of 1989. The crumbling chain once had more than 100 stores across the country; today, around 15 remain.<\/p>\n Although Toys \u201cR\u201d Us is suffering, toy sales are up around the world, according to Circana. The market research company reported in 2025, toy sales in Canada exceeded $2.6 billion \u2014 a 14 per cent increase over the previous year.<\/p>\n Data collected by the Canadian Toy Association shows the number of hobby and toy store businesses in Canada grew to approximately 4,100 last year from 3,500 in 2020.<\/p>\n aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Aaron Epp Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. Read more about Aaron<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Aaron produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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