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Toy to the World

Toys 'R' Us to open its Times Square flagship store in New York

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Toys 'R'Us (Paramus, N.J.) will open its much-heralded, long-awaited international flagship store on New York's Times Square Saturday, November 17.

The toy retailing giant has pulled out all the stops for the 110,000-square foot, multi-level store it's calling The Center of the Toy Universe. The dramatic centerpiece is a 60-foot-tall indoor Ferris Wheel, complete with flashing chevron neon lights, which is visible from the street for a period of time throughout the day. Each of the 14 cars is individually themed, inspired by a favorite children's toy or character. The Ferris Wheel will raise funds for The Toys 'R'Us Children's Fund, which provides grants to charities promoting the health and well-being of children.

Other feature attractions, many of them branded, include a 4000-square-foot, two-story Barbie Dollhouse; a 5-ton, 20-foot-high, 34-foot-long animatronic T-Rex dinosaur in the Jurassic Park exhibit; an animatronic 42-inch-tall E.T. (the Extra-Terrestrial) in the E.T. Shop, complete with a glowing heart, nodding head, blinking eyes, and finger pointing “home” to an overhead 1600-pound light-flashing space spacecraft; an interactive Pepsi Tasting Station at Pepsi World, located on the store's third level, with a panoramic view of the store; and a Candy Land Shop, based on the popular children's board game, featuring life-size candy sculptures among other things.

The store's entire facade is made of glass panels that reveal an expansive scrolling billboard system that unveils timed toy and branding messages for the approximate 1.5 million people that travel through Times Square every day. The billboard, consisting of 165 six-foot-by-five-foot scrolling panels that can change appearance in a matter of seconds. There's also a 20-foot Geoffreytron LED screen that offers passersby additional entertainment, from toy trivia to videos highlighting the latest toys.

“Our Toys 'R'Us Times Square store encompasses the corporate brand and our strategic vision for renewing the company's growth heritage over the next few years,” said the retailer's chairman and ceo John Eyler. “We are bringing together the best in theatrical retailing into a specialty, shop-oriented environment. It offers fabulous content in an engaging and fun way and we hope to capture the imagination of toy lovers of all ages. It's a magical, friendly, and service-oriented setting, with unrivaled entertainment. It's an amazing shopping experience.”

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“We think it is only fitting that the world's largest retailer of toys and children's products has an international flagship presence in Times Square, 'the Crossroads of the World'and one of the globe's most exciting destinations,” said Toys 'R'Us Times Square vp and general manager Elliott Wahle.

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