Babies R Us coming back inside 200 Kohl's stores

Kohl's will open Babies R Us shops inside their stores starting later this year, an effort by the department store retailer to broaden its reach and attract younger customers into their stores.

Kohl's said the partnership with WHP Global, the owner of the Babies R Us, will bring baby gear, activity, bath, furniture and feeding and safety products to their stores, tapping into a market for growing young families.

The first Babies R Us shop within a shop will open at Kohl's this August, with plans to roll out to approximately 200 stores in the fall. No word yet on which stores will receive the Babies R Us spaces. Kohl's has nine stores in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

The space will complement Kohl's assortment of baby apparel, which will be adjacent to the new Babies R Us dedicated space.

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“Evolving our assortment and bringing more relevant product to the millions of customers we serve is a core focus as we continue to deliver on Kohl’s broader growth strategy,” said Tom Kingsbury, Kohl’s chief executive officer, in a statement.

“We see significant opportunity in the baby gear category, and partnering with Babies R Us is another example of how we are finding new ways to optimize our assortment and further establish Kohl’s as the go-to brand for families.”

Wayne-based Toys R Us and its sister brand Babies R Us closed its stores in 2018, but the distinctive store names themselves have retained value. WHP Global bought Babies R Us and Toys R Us from Tru Kids in 2021. It opened a Toys R Us store at the American Dream mall at the Meadowlands in 2021 and a Babies R Us there in 2023.

Late last year WHP said it would be opening two dozen Toys R Us stories throughout the United States.

Retail analyst Neil Saunders said Kohl's decision to open Babies R Us shops-within-shops is "sensible."

"Kohl’s needs to find ways of attracting more customers to its stores, and becoming a destination for baby products is one way they can engineer this," said Saunders, managing director-retail at Global Data. "If the concept can pull in younger customers, that might also help Kohl’s to widen its general appeal, which will help to stabilize sales."

Still, Kohl's will have to stand out from competitors like Target and Walmart. "Having a fully formed proposition from Babies R Us should make this task easier," Saunders said.

David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business, retail, real estate and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for 25 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Please sign up for his weekly newsletter and join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Babies R Us brand brought back inside 200 Kohl's stores