Toys R Us at Teesside Park in Stockton-on-Tees

A look at the old Toys R Us store at Teesside Retail Park in Stockton-on-Tees.

Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018. Luckily there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK. I worked in the Gipsy Lane store in Luton, Bedfordshire back in the year 2000.

Check out my blog posts below about other former Toys R Us stores:

• Interchange Retail Park at Copdock Mill, Ipswich
• Central Retail Park in Manchester
• Gemini Retail Park in Warrington
• Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• Deepdale shopping centre in Preston
• Wyvern Retail Park in Derby
• Riverside Retail Park in Nottingham

Toys R Us in Ipswich

A look at the old Toys R Us store in Ipswich, Suffolk.

Many thanks to my sister-in-law Annette for sending over a snap of the closed Toys R Us store in the Interchange Retail Park at Copdock Mill, Ipswich.

This sign is still up. But for how much longer?

Sadly Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018. Luckily there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK. I worked in the Gipsy Lane store in Luton, Bedfordshire back in the year 2000.

Check out the blog posts below about other former Toys R Us stores:

• Central Retail Park in Manchester
• Gemini Retail Park in Warrington
• Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• Deepdale shopping centre in Preston
• Wyvern Retail Park in Derby
• Riverside Retail Park in Nottingham

A retail time machine

Today is Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day.

I pretend to be a Time Traveler quite a bit by hunting out relics of the past that can still be seen today.

Old UK shop brands from my (time) travels

If you could once again shop at a long lost store which one would it be?

Toys R Us at the Riverside Retail Park in Nottingham

A look at a lost shop in Nottingham.

Many thanks to my friend and minigolf rival Jam Trubridge for sending over a snap of the old Toys R Us store at the Riverside Retail Park in Nottingham.

It's great to see the signage is still up.

It's another store for us to visit in the future as soon as it's safe to do so.

It'll be nice to meet up with Jam too as there are a lot of minigolf courses in Nottinghamshire we have yet to play on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Former Toys R Us stores

Sadly Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018. Luckily there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK. I worked in the Gipsy Lane store in Luton, Bedfordshire back in the year 2000.

This year we've also been to the old Toys R Us stores at Gemini Retail Park in Warrington, the Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Deepdale shopping centre in Preston and at the Wyvern Retail Park in Derby.

We took at look at the old Toys R Us store at the Central Retail Park in Ancoats, Manchester just prior to its demolition in March 2019.

Toys R Us at the Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

A look at a relic from a lost time.

The front of the store

It was marvellous to find the old Toys R Us store at Wyvern Retail Park in Derby.

A corner of the store

Sadly Toys R Us ceased trading in the UK in April 2018.

All of the big signs are still in place

The rear and side of the store

Luckily there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK.

I worked in the Gipsy Lane store in Luton, Bedfordshire back in the year 2000. I got the job shortly after arriving in the town to study at the university.

A magical place

Thanks to Blast From The Past on Instagram for the heads-up about the Derby store still being there.

If you know of any other old Toys R Us shops do let me know.

More photos from our trip to Toys R Us at Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

The container loading bay. When I worked at Toys R Us I spent parts of my evening shifts unloading the containers at the Luton store

A lovely old sign

Look at the markings in the car park bay on the left

One part of the trolley bays is still there

Other former Toys R Us stores

This year we've also been to the old Toys R Us stores at Gemini Retail Park in Warrington, the Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent and at the Deepdale shopping centre in Preston.

We took at look at the old Toys R Us store at the Central Retail Park in Ancoats, Manchester just prior to its demolition in March 2019.

Other lost brands

Our travels have seen us spot the remnants of a number of old and defunct brands, including Woolworths in Stoke-on-Trent, Tandy in Hitchin, RadioShack in Lytham Saint Annes, Kwik Save in Barrow-in-Furness and Blockbuster Video stores in Fallowfield, Manchester, Colne, Lancashire, Prescot, Merseyside and Chester, Cheshire.

Lost shops

Relics from a lost time.

Kwik Save in Barrow in Furness, Woolworths in Longton, Toys R Us in Preston, Tandy in Hitchin, RadioShack in St Annes on the Sea and Blockbuster in Manchester

Which lost brands do I need to track down next?

Lost shops - Toys R Us in Preston, Lancashire

September 2020 - Toys R Us still exists. Kind of.

Toys R Us ceased trading in the UK in April 2018. I worked there back in the year 2000.

It's always interesting to see signs from lost brands

This store is in Preston, Lancashire.

Toys R Us at the Deepdale shopping centre in Preston

Apart from one ghost sign on the side of the building where the raised letters have been removed it looks like it could've still been open.

Ghost signs

A busy car park

A colourful store front

Welcome to Toys R Us

This store is now closed

The entrance

A nice sign on the right of the building

At the exit

The exit doors

A piece of ephemera 

Remnants

A branded electricity substation

There have been plans for the old Toys R Us at the Deepdale shopping centre to be converted into a gym or a Sports Direct. But at the moment it's still there as something of a time capsule.

Other lost Toys R Us stores

We've also been to the abandoned Toys R Us in Warrington, Cheshire, had a look at what remained of the old Toys R Us store at the Central Retail Park in Ancoats, Manchester before it was demolished and visited the Toys R Us in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent shortly before it was converted into a Go Outdoors this month.

Lost shops

On our travels we've also seen a RadioShack in St Annes on the Sea; Woolworths Big W in Brunstane, Edinburgh; Tandy in Hitchin; Blockbuster in Fallowfield, Manhester; Woolworths in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent; BHS in Stockport; Blockbuster Video Express in Colne; Orange Mobile in Oswestry; Kwik Save in Barrow-in-Furness; Cooltrader in Blackpool and the remains of Blockbuster Video stores in Oldham, Cheadle Hulme, Marple, Hastings, Felixstowe, Telford, Prescot and Chester.

Happy Shopper

On our way to look at the old Toys R Us we also found a bonus lost shop - a Happy Shopper!

Toys R Us in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent

A look at the old Toys R Us store at Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.

I've never seen cleaner and brighter signs on an abandoned shop.

There are three large branded Toys R Us signs on the store, this is one of two on the side of the building. They differ from the more commonly see signs as the brand name is printed onto one board, rather that the lettering being made out of individual 3D pieces

Toys R Us ceased trading in the UK in April 2018. I worked there back in the year 2000.

I was once one of Geoffrey's Helpers at Toys R Us

It was a lucky find as this month the unit will be opened as a Go Outdoors store and so the Toys R Us branding will be disappearing.

This scene won't be the same next month and the Toys R Us branding will be lost forever

Remains of other Toys R Us stores

We've also been to the abandoned Toys R Us in Warrington, Cheshire and had a look at what remained of the old store at the Central Retail Park in Ancoats, Manchester.

Urbex - Toys R Us in Warrington

A look at the remains of the old Toys R Us store in Warrington, Cheshire.

Crepes R Us

NOT Toys R Us.

Related blog posts:
- Stickers
- Toys R Us

Lost shops - Toys R Us in Warrington

A look at the old Toys R Us store in Warrington.

In our continued look at old, defunct and lost shops we took a walk round the old Toys R Us store in Warrington, Cheshire at the weekend.

Toys R Us ceased trading in the UK back in April 2018 and the Warrington location has been empty since then. The site will become a car dealership in the future.

While very little of the signage is still in place you can still clearly see ghost signs of the TOYS R US and BABIES R US logos on the building.

Working at Toys R Us

My first job while at university in the year 2000 was as one of Geoffrey's helpers at the Luton store. I worked on the video game and electronics section.

We never had these branded bollards at the Gipsy Lane store in Luton

A look round the Warrington location

Here are some more snaps and videos of the store as it looked in July 2020.

The approach to the store

These branded stones are very very nice

Ghost signage

The lettering from the old sign is still visible on the side of the building

Note the markings on the ground

Coronavirus social distancing warnings

The container loading bay. When I worked at Toys R Us I spent parts of my evening shifts unloading the containers

One of the few signs still on the building. While it's unbranded, the Toys R Us typeface is recognisable

Toys R Us and Babies R Us ghost signs

The overgrown trolley bay at the front of the store

An empty trolley bay

A 'tombstone' to the dead brand

Toys R Us in Ancoats, Manchester

I took a look at the old Toys R Us store at the Central Retail Park in Ancoats, Manchester just prior to it's demolition in March 2019.

Check out photos of that location from two visits in February 2019 - one / two.

We had a look at what's left of the old Central Retail Park last Friday.

Lost shops

We've seen a number of other old and defunct brands on our travels around the country including Woolworths in Stoke-on-Trent, Woolworths Big W in Edinburgh, Kwik Save in Barrow-in-Furness, Blockbuster Video in Fallowfield, Tandy in Hitchin and RadioShack in Lytham Saint Annes.

Do you have a favourite old shop brand from the past?