A New Business is Taking Over the Old Toys R Us Building on Loop 323
A new store is about to open up in Tyler at the old Toys R Us location, and although it's not officially going to be a toy store, you may be able to find some Legos and Pop-its there.
Longview and Marshall already have locations, and Tyler is getting a new Ollie's Bargain Outlet soon. CBS 19 reported earlier this year that the old Toys R Us building on The Loop is undergoing renovations now, and when Ollie's opens up in that space it will be one of 38 new businesses that pop up in Tyler this year.
Other Ollie's locations in East Texas:
1300 E Pinecrest Drive
Marshall, TX 75670
402 W Loop 281
Longview, TX 75605
Ollie's says on its website that it has "real brands at real bargain prices in every department, from housewares to sporting goods to flooring and to food." It's a good place to find closeouts, overstocks, package changes, manufacturer refurbished goods, and irregulars. Yes please! Bargain hunters, unite.
I did a quick zip code search on Ollie's website for the new Tyler location, and it's not coming up yet. The Longview and Marshall locations are listed, but we'll have to give the Tyler one a little more time before we can start shopping there.
And what about Toys R Us?
The Toys R Us / Babys R Us building has been sitting empty on Loop 323 for more than two years and the company worked its way through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. WHP Global bought a controlling interest in Tru Kids, the parent company of Toys R Us, and for a while, it looked like there could be a revival with at least a few stores opening again. A few mini-stores have opened up inside other stores and there is a continued partnership with Target, but the biggest Toys R Us push has been online to this point.
My co-worker, Michael Gibson, pointed out not too long ago that there is still one Toys R Us store in Texas. You can find it in The Galleria in Houston.
At least Tyler is making use of the old space.