Consumers are warming up to Geoffrey the Giraffe again in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
Toys “R” Us ANZ, the exclusive licensee for the Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us brands in those regions, reported its fiscal year 2022 earnings this week, reflecting 74% year-over-year growth in revenue. The company says that its revenue from continuing operations hit $37.9 million this year as it begins to expand both direct-to-consumer (DTC) and business-to-business (B2B) sales.
This year brought expansion for Toys “R” Us ANZ’s primary operation with the opening of a new warehouse in Australia that is more than four times larger than its previous space.
The e-commerce business has not yet resulted in any physical stores for its operating regions.
Toys “R” Us officially reentered the competitive UK market this month with the launch of a new website that is operating under what the company calls a “capital light, digital-first” model.
“We are excited to implement our plans to accelerate and scale our Toys ‘R’ Us, Babies ‘R’ Us, and Hobby Warehouse operations in Australia, and relaunch Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us in the UK,” says Toys “R” Us ANZ CEO and Managing Director, Dr. Louis Mittoni. “We are now ready to scale up in the UK, having carefully built the operational capability to meet shoppers’ expectations and demand from market launch right through to the peak trading season.”
While the company is starting to attract new customers, it does face challenges with supply chain issues, inflationary concerns, and a high cost of customer acquisition. The company says that its underlying net loss after tax for the year is $10.2 million.
Earlier this year, Toys “R” Us ANZ took out a $15 million three-year loan facility of which $10 million has already been used.
Toys “R” Us is owned by WHP Global which manages licensing for the company and its brands. A new, double-decker Toys “R” Us global flagship store operated under license by Brooklyn’s Toys 4 U opened at the American Dream mall in New Jersey just before Christmas last year. Toys “R” Us is currently in the midst of a national rollout for its new departments at Macy’s with a grand opening celebration set to begin on Oct. 15.
Toys “R” Us currently exists with more than 900 stores and e-commerce sites operating across 25 countries.
