Toys 'R' Us to start manufacturing in India by mid next year: Report

As it looks to expand rapidly in India, global toy retailer Toys 'R' Us will start manufacturing in India by mid next year, The Economic Times (ET) reported on Monday, citing its owner WHP Global's chief commercial officer Stanley Silverstein.

Business Standard on Monday reported that the company expects India to be among its top five in the next four to five years. Currently, the toy maker has two stores in the country, and it is aiming to open 75 more in the next three years. 

Toys 'R' Us came to India with a different licensee partner just before the COVID-19 pandemic and had opened 10-12 stores, which it had to shut down due to lockdown. It re-entered the market in March this year. Now, the company has expedited the manufacturing process in India.

Under the current norms of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), all electric and non-electric toys should bear an ISI mark, and no toy without the mark will be allowed to be sold in the Indian market. Due to this norm, the company is now looking to manufacture in India. Before the norms, most of the company's toys were imported from China.

The toy maker had filed for bankruptcy six years ago. Later, WHP Global acquired the majority stake in the brand. Currently, its top five markets are the USA, Japan, China, Italy and Dubai.

In India, the toy retailer competes with Hamleys, which belongs to the Reliance Industries' bailiwick. The US-based retailer is working with an omnichannel approach and will have small stores compared to elsewhere in the world.

The size of most stores it plans to open in India will be in the range of 8,000-10,000 square feet. It has just opened a store in Mumbai in an area of 12,000 square feet.