Toys R Us is returning to the UK

New Toys R Us stores opening in the UK.

Toys R Us in Northampton, June 2021

While Toys R Us stores have been closed in the UK since 2018 the brand has lived on in one form or another in other parts of the world.

The new version of Toys R Us will be opening by Toys R Us ANZ who relaunched the business in Australia in 2019. They plan to rollout the brand with an online and physical retail presence in 2022 and 2023.

Toys R Us closed in the UK in April 2018. It's been very interesting to find that there are still remnants of the brand on some retail parks in the UK and we've visited a number of these closed, abandoned, derelict and demolished Toys R Us locations on our travels.

Toys R Us in Stockton-on-Tees, April 2021

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.

Toys R Us in Basingstoke, May 2021

Visiting Toys R Us

With a keen interest in old and defunct brands we've visited a number of former Toys R Us sites over the last couple of years, the latest being in Norwich and Ipswich.

Toys R Us in Milton Keynes, June 2021

• Brighton Hill Retail Park in Basingstoke
• Central Retail Park in Manchester
• Cathedral Retail Park in Norwich
• Deepdale shopping centre in Preston
• Festival retail park in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
• Gemini Retail Park in Warrington
• Interchange Retail Park at Copdock Mill, Ipswich
• St James Retail Park in Northampton
• Teesside Retail Park in Stockton-on-Tees
• The Leisure Plaza in Milton Keynes
• Western Esplanade in Southampton
• Wolverhampton Road in Oldbury
• Wyvern Retail Park in Derby

Toys R Us in Southampton, May 2021

The future of Toys R Us

It'll be interesting to see what the future holds for Toys R Us and how the relaunch in the UK will go.

As can be seen, some of the former locations are still vacant, while others have been let to new shops. Some former Toys R Us stores have been pulled down, with others converted to retailtainment centres featuring trampoline parks and minigolf courses.

It'll be interesting to shop at Toys R Us again in the future

New mini golf course in Coventry

A new mini golf course and tenpin bowling centre is planned to open in Coventry city centre.

The former Debenhams shop unit at the West Orchards Shopping Centre in Coventry is set to become a tenpin bowling and adventure golf venue.

The retail entertainment and minigolf boom.

Minigolf is a big part of the retailtainment boom, with courses opening as standalone entertainment activities, or as part of large shoppingtainment leisure offerings in malls, high streets and retail parks.

 

Crazy Golfing in Coventry

It'll be another new course for us to visit on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

We've played minigolf at Allesley Park and Teezers Retro Golf in Coventry before. There's also a new Galaxy Quest Mini Golf at Laser Quest that we need to play and plans for a Boom: Battle Bar in the city too.

Happy National Pumpkin Day

Today is National Pumpkin Day.

Halloween in the City is back in Manchester

Halloween in the City has returned to Manchester city centre.

We saw a few of the new Halloween monster inflatables that have popped up in Manchester during a wander round town on Saturday.

The full Halloween in the City event is taking place in Manchester on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st October with a number of large-scale monsters adorning buildings around the city centre as well as other themed activities.

Check out the Halloween in the City website for more information.

Urban Playground Mini Golf at the Arndale Centre in Manchester

A new indoor mini golf course is opening as part of the new Urban Playground at the Arndale shopping centre in Manchester.

A new competitive socialising venue is opening at the Arndale Centre in Manchester and one of the activities on offer will be mini golf.

The Urban Playground in Manchester is opening sometime this year and will be home to the indoor miniature golf course, The Cube Live and food & drinks.

Putters Mini-Golf at the Urban Playground will be a tech-based course. Visit the Urban Playground website for more information.

The Urban Playground will be another new local venue for us.

The Urban Playground entertainment centre is being created by the Mellors Group who own Skegness Pier and Fantasy Island in Ingoldmells. We've played minigolf at Fantasy Island before. The course there was underneath a rollercoaster! There's a new Lava Creek Adventure Golf course we haven't yet had a go on at Fantasy Island too.

Ghostbusting in Urmston

I saw an Ecto-1a car and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in Urmston, Greater Manchester two years ago today!

It was a brilliant way to kick off the Halloween season.

Par-59 Crazy Golf opening in Cardiff

The new Par-59 Crazy Golf venue is opening in Cardiff next year.

Plans are still going ahead for the Par-59 Crazy Golf venue to open in Cardiff, Wales. The location was originally going to be at the Capitol Shopping Centre in Cardiff city centre, however plans have changed with the site now opening in a former nightclub on St Mary Street.

The Par-59 brand is being opened by footballer Gareth Bale and is set to open in Spring 2022.

Par-59 will feature three 9-hole indoor crazy golf courses along with a bar and restaurant.

Visit the Par-59 website for more information.

It'll be another new course for us to visit in Cardiff on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Today is Back to the Future Day

Happy Back to the Future Day.

We saw a Back to the Future DeLorean time machine at MediaCityUK in Salford a few days before the coronavirus pandemic lockdown was put in place

If you could travel in time would you go to the future or the past?

Visit the Back to the Future car's website for more information.

Mini Golf at UberBlast in North Conway, New Hampshire, USA

A look at the Mini Golf course at the UberBlast Family Entertainment Center in North Conway, New Hampshire, USA.

My brother Christopher recently swung by the the UberBlast Family Entertainment Center in North Conway, New Hampshire, USA and sent me these photos of the minigolf course there.

The course became the 1,006th visited on our overall Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf heading back to Liverpool

There are plans for a new Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf course in Liverpool.

Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf are planning to open a new indoor minigolf centre at The Lyceum building in Liverpool.

Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf opened its first venue in Bristol and its second location was at Liverpool ONE. There are currently four Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf sites - in Bristol, Brighton, London and Glasgow.

Visit the Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf website for more information.

We've played tournaments at the Jungle Rumble Adventure Golf courses in Bristol and Liverpool. We also visited the now closed Leeds location on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour.

Mini Golf at Haven's Wild Duck Holiday Park in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

A look at the Mini Golf course at Haven's Wild Duck Holiday Park in Belton, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

Our friends Sophia and Karl Moles sent over some photos of the Mini Golf course at Haven's Wild Duck Holiday Park in Belton, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk from their recent holiday there.

Sophia told us they enjoyed a couple of rounds on the course, with the best score from the group being a 25 by Karl. The course record is 24 on the 9-hole layout.

They also visited the course back in the summer of 2019.

Check out the Haven website for more information on the Wild Duck Holiday Park.

Minigolfing Moles

Karl and Sophia have been to quite a few different holiday camps with their family and have sent over minigolf snaps from trips to Haven's Caister-on-Sea Holiday Park, Pontins Pakefield, Allhallows Leisure Holiday Park, Jungle Adventure Golf at Parkdean's Vauxhall Holiday Park in Great Yarmouth, as well as the Crazy Golf course at Suffolk Leisure Park in Ipswich, Minigolf Sport Club Sanremo in Arma, Italy and the miniature golf course on the MSC Opera cruise ship!

36 years of Blockbuster Video

Gone, but not forgotten.

The first Blockbuster Video store opened in Dallas, Texas, USA on this day in 1985.

At its peak in 2004 there were more than 9,000 stores around the world. 500+ of which were in the UK.

There is now just one Blockbuster Video store left open. It's in Bend, Oregon, USA.

Blockbuster in the UK

Blockbuster Video Express in Billingham, Teesside

Blockbuster ceased operations in the UK in December 2013. At the start of that year there were 528 Blockbuster locations in the UK. The number dwindled until October when only 264 shops remained. The remaining stores closed on the 16th December.

The most recent former Blockbuster store we visited was in Clacton-on-Sea. It was nice to see it had a ghost sign

There are still clearly visible remnants of the brand on the high street and on retail parks. And we've been to most of them!

Blockbuster Video stores we've visited

Check out the posts about other former Blockbuster Video stores we've been to in:

• Abingdon, Oxfordshire
• Ashton, Bristol
• Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• Basingstoke, Hampshire
• Billingham, Teesside
• Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester
• Chester, Cheshire
• Chorley, Lancashire
• Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
• Colne, Lancashire
• Fallowfield, Manchester
• Felixstowe, Suffolk
• Filton, Bristol
• Great Moor, Stockport, Greater Manchester
• Hastings, East Sussex
• Leigh, Greater Manchester
• Luton, Bedfordshire
• Marple, Greater Manchester
• Nuneaton, Warwickshire
• Oldham, Greater Manchester
• Prescot, Lancashire
• Shanklin, Isle of Wight
• Southampton, Hampshire
• Telford, Shropshire
• Wythenshawe, Manchester

A ghost sign at the old Blockbuster Video Express store in Shanklin on the Isle of Wight

Lost brands

I've spent a lot of the last two years reminiscing about 'the good old days' before the coronavirus pandemic hit the planet. One of my areas of interest is in old retail brands - I'm a marketer by profession and two of my first jobs in the 1990's and the year 2000 were at Tandy and Toys R Us. It's been fascinating to find remnants of a number of lost, dead and defunct brands on the high street and at retail parks.

Crazy Golf at Pop's Meadow in Gorleston-on-Sea

A look at the Crazy Golf course at Pop's Meadow in Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk.

A big thank you goes to the team at Pop's Meadow Cafe and Fun Park for sending us these photos of the new Crazy Golf course there.

We heard last week that the venue had reopened and added a new minigolf course to the site. Great news.

Visit the Pop's Meadow Cafe and Fun Park on Facebook for more information.

It's always brilliant to hear about new miniature golf courses opening and it's really nice when sites of lost courses once again become places to play the game.

The former Crazy Golf course at Pop's Meadow in Gorleston-on-Sea was the 100th course we visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we swung by on the 10th May 2009.

We played the old Arnold Palmer Putting course at Pop's Meadow in June 2010 and the last time any of us swung by it was back in 2016 after it had closed down

We've now been to 973 courses since September 2006.

We're planning a big minigolf trip to Norfolk for next summer and it'll be marvellous to have a game of crazy golf at Pop's Meadow again.

Roxy Ball Room heading to Bristol

A new Roxy Ball Room could be opening in Bristol.

There are plans for a new Roxy Ball Room to open in Bristol city centre.

Roxy Ball Room venues are home to a number of sports and games including Crazy Golf, Crazy Pool, Shuffleboard, Pool, Beer Pong and more.

Check out the Roxy Ball Room website for more information.

We've played Crazy Golf at the Roxy Ball Room locations in Manchester and Leeds on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour. We're yet to play minigolf at the Liverpool site.

Crazy Golf back at Pop's Meadow in Gorleston-on-Sea

A Crazy Golf course is once again part of Pop's Meadow in Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk.

Pop's Meadow fun park in Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk is once more home to a Crazy Golf course.

A temporary layout has been created by the new operators of the site and there are plans for a more permanent course to be put in place in the future.

Check out the Pop's Meadow Cafe and Fun Park on Facebook for more information.

It's always nice to hear about new minigolf courses opening and especially nice when sites of lost courses once again become places to play the game.

The Crazy Golf course at Pop's Meadow in Gorleston-on-Sea was the 100th course visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour when we swung by on the 10th May 2009. We've now been to 973 courses since September 2006.

We played the course in June 2010 and the last time any of us swung by it was back in 2016 when it had closed down

We're looking forward to revisiting Pop's Meadow and playing the new course there.

Pop's Meadow is a site of historical significance in the world of miniature golf as the game has been played there for many many years