Newly Combined Toys ‘R’ Us, Babies ‘R’ Us To Celebrate Grand Reopening This Weekend

Ceasar’s Bay’s Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us, located at  8973-95 Bay Parkway, will celebrate its grand re-opening from Friday, June 28, through Sunday, June 30, with giveaways, family activities, costumed characters and more – marking the full restoration of the retailers’ services since Superstorm Sandy dealt tremendous damage to the buildings.

Since Sandy, Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us have been operating temporary on-site locations to serve area residents. And now, the new 58,000 square foot store will introduce the latest in the parent company’s corporate strategy, integrating the two stores under one roof. The side-by-side format will feature a new layout that, the company says, “provides customers a streamlined shopping environment that is easy to navigate and showcases the exclusive product offerings customers have come to expect.”

Less than a month after Sandy closed their doors, the company opened two temporary locations on Bay Parkway, one in the Caesar’s Bay shopping center itself, and the other in a temporary structure within the center’s parking lot. The temporary structure was taken down earlier this year, and the second location closed as this one opened. The combined stores will add more than 10 new full- and part-time employees, in addition to approximately 110 employees who worked at the former locations.

A Bensonhurst Bean reader and part-time employee of the store – who asked not to be named – dropped us a note about the reopening, and his experiences with the company after Sandy. Here’s what he had to say:

I work there part time for the last 3 years. When Sandy hit the store was destroyed. They kept all their employees and put up a tent in the parking lot to keep us employed and to make sure the community had a place to buy diapers, baby food and toys for Christmas. I think they actually lost money on the tent but at least people had a place to shop. Now the store is finished and everything is brand new from top to bottom. New floors, shelves, lights, everything. It’s so nice in there now. They even have a light show at the entrance. I’m hearing for the grand opening they will have dress up characters appearing like Dora and Jeffrey the Giraffe. Even though I just work there I’m proud of them for doing the right thing.

He also noted that, with the two stores combined, it now sports 30 registers and is the number two store in the chain in terms of sales, second only to the Times Square location.