Toys R Us wanted to return to the high street and struck a deal with WHSmith.

A quick online check reveals that WHSmith has ‘over 1,100 stores across the UK in travel and high street locations.’ Do you know you know how many Toys R Us stores have returned to UK high streets in this clever move by the toy giant?

Nine. Not ninety. Not 900. Nine. And little old Cwmbran is one of the lucky few.

Yes, they chose Cwmbran. The high street has changed. For those of a certain age, forget memories of shopping in the huge warehouses and the jingle, ‘with toys in their millions, all under one roof. It’s called Toys R Us‘. Those days are long gone.

Things are different in 2023. Businesses have to adapt and if the model of sharing space with other big names works, then I’m all for it. Social media comments on Toys R Us have been mixed. They were never going to open in old M&S or even take on a unit of their own. This is a huge business doing something different and that has to be done to survive in these tough tough times.

A few years ago they went online only, and now they are back and bringing extra jobs and choice to the town.

If you’ve been critical about the move, would you prefer they didn’t open in Cwmbran and took their big name somewhere else? It means another reason to visit town.

Welcome to Cwmbran, Geoffrey 😃. I’m going to give you a wave every time I pop to WHSmiths and/ or the Post Office and/ or M&S Simply Food and enjoy so much choice ‘all under one roof’.