Toys R Us in Germany

I'm eventually getting back to normal after being away from home three times in as many weeks, and that means I can finally report back having been to Germany and seen Toys R Us there.

My overall impression was that it was much more successful than the UK business, with a better organised store that felt more inviting and offered better browsing. I went on a Saturday afternoon and it wasn't very busy, which was a little surprising as you might expect Saturdays to be the busiest day of the week (especially as they are closed on Sundays in accordance with Germany's restrictions on Sunday shop opening). The school holidays began on Monday so perhaps parents were planning to go in with their kids then, instead.

Journey Girls on the shelves

As far as Journey Girls products go, the selection was no larger than in the UK, but it was arranged much more neatly with a little more shelf space. I saw nothing I hadn't already seen at home, so I decided not to buy anything.

I didn't see much that was different in the dolls section, except that there was more doll clothing available. I saw You and Me baby doll clothes (their own brand) that I haven't seen in the UK, and a few pieces of clothing including some underwear sets from a brand I didn't know on wooden hangers (I bought one of these) and some baby doll clothing that I think was from Schildkrot.

A good range of baby doll clothes

There was an extensive board games section but unfortunately the instructions didn't appear to be multilingual on any of the games that I looked at. I love board games, especially German style games, but I don't speak German. Toys R Us in the UK was always much more geared towards kid board games from the big game companies, and in recent times the emphasis seems to have been on silly games made from plastic with some sort of physical element like squirting toilets, rather than games that require you to use your brain.

German board games selection. Interesting for all the family and not just those with potty humour tastes.

I also had to take this photo:

Maybe "Girly Girl edition" sounds better if you're not a native English speaker?

I haven't found any news articles that indicate what's going to happen to Toys R Us stores outside the UK and North America, but Toys R Us in Germany appeared to be successful enough, from the up to date and well presented store I saw. With North America being the leading market for 18" dolls, and the category being much more niche in Europe compared to baby dolls and fashion dolls, my own guess is that even if Toys R Us somehow survives, the Journey Girls brand will not.