Exclusive | Toys R Us aims to open 120 stores by Thanksgiving but suppliers remain skittish following 2017 bankruptcy

Toys “R” Us is scrambling to open 120 new stores by Thanksgiving — but suppliers burned by its devastating bankruptcy in 2017 remain skittish about doing business with the retailer’s new operators, The Post has learned.Go Retail Group — a Texas-based business that specializes in pop-up stores, including two Disney Store Limited Time locations and Calendar.com shops — has has opened 40 year-round Toys “R” Us stores since 2024.It has opened the stores under license from WHP Global, a New York-based firm that owns 16 brands including Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs,  Anne Klein and Land’s End.But as Go Retail looks to quadruple its number of Toys “R” Us locations in time for the crucial holiday season, it has been asking toy manufacturers for extended credit terms – asking to pay as much as 180 days after goods are delivered to its stores, multiple sources told The Post.In response, many vendors have pushed back, with some noting that the industry norm for inventory financing is between 30 and 90 days.“They should be the ones financing the business, not their vendors,” said Jay Foreman, chief executive of Basic Fun, maker of Tonka Trucks and Care Bears. “We went down that road once before and got badly burned and won’t put ourselves in that position again.”Alan Dorfman of Super Impulse — which makes tiny, pocket-sized versions of toys and games including board games like Battleship, Connect 4 and Hungry Hungry Hippos — is also holding back.“We hope to be part of it, but we are not yet shipping to them,” Dorfman told The Post.

“We have worked with Go Retail in the past but there were some bumps in the road and we are trying to get things back on track.”Founded 70 years ago by Charles Lazarus, the retailer operated more than 800 Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us stores in the US when it went belly up and liquidated in 2018.It was saddled with $5 billion in debt after being acquired by private equity giants Bain Capital, KKR an...