Toys “R” Us store on St. Matthews shuttering

Now that Jordan Pastushenko is a father, toys are back on his radar.

“With the little one, I do have to think about it a bit more,” he said, as he visited the Toys “R” Us at 1445 St. Matthews Ave. with his wife, Breanne, and their nine-month-old son, Bohden, on Wednesday morning.

Employees put a sign up in the Polo Park area store’s front window earlier this week notifying customers the longtime location will be closing. “Everything must go!” the sign says. It does not specify when the Winnipeg store’s last day in business will be.

Pastushenko saw a photo of the sign online, which inspired his trip to the store. “We have gift cards, so I guess we’ve got to use them,” he said.

The 36-year-old grew up on Dominion Street and has fond childhood memories of visiting Toys “R” Us to purchase Pokémon trading cards. When he’s visited the store in recent years, he said, it hasn’t been as full of toys as it once was.

“I think these kinds of stores are dying, in a sense.”

He wasn’t the only one with a trip to Toys “R” Us on his mind. There were at least a dozen cars in the parking lot by lunchtime on Wednesday.

An employee told a Free Press reporter the store was provided with the sign and instructed to put it up. Employees were given no further details, he said.

A supervisor at the store declined an interview and directed the Free Press to Toys “R” Us Canada Ltd.’s head office. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

“I think these kinds of stores are dying, in a sense.”

The national chain once had more than 100 stores across the country. It closed at least 38 locations in 2025, according to an Edmonton Journal report in November.

The company had three locations in Winnipeg until late fall 2024, when it closed its store at 1910 Pembina Hwy.

The demise of Toys “R” Us on St. Matthews Avenue could be the result of a variety of factors, including the loss in recent years of major retailers in the area such as Hudson’s Bay, said Harsha Kamatham, a marketing professor at the University of Manitoba’s Asper School of Business.

“That could be driving fewer and fewer visitors to the other stores like Toys ‘R’ Us,” Kamatham said. “So it is possible that Toys ‘R’ Us is just caught up in the middle of the bigger shifts that are happening.”

A change in consumer purchasing habits could be another factor, he added.

“I think most customers these days are starting their purchase journeys online,” Kamatham said. “We are probably shifting away from these type (of) stores where you may not be able to find the variety of products that can be found on Amazon or other online retailers.”

A third factor might be competition from other stores that offer the same items at better prices. Kamatham has a 12-year-old, and when he was recently looking at some toys for his child, he noticed better deals at Walmart and online via Amazon.

“If someone like me is doing price comparison, it is possible that we would find something cheaper … and naturally choose something that is cheaper,” he said.

It’s sad to see the St. Matthews Avenue Toys “R” Us closing its doors, said Jen Skerritt, president of Party Stuff, a party and event supply company with a location near the store.

“It’s never great for a neighbourhood like this — especially (because) it’s so retail heavy — when someone closes,” she said.

“It’s never great for a neighbourhood like this – especially (because) it’s so retail heavy – when someone closes.”

Party Stuff has expanded its offerings in the last 18 months to include more gifts and toys, Skerritt added.

“We are, and have been trying to already, be a landing spot for people that are doing a birthday shop and looking for a toy or game to go with it,” she said. “Seeing the closure of Toys ‘R’ Us, I think … we’ll definitely try to fill that gap for people.”

American entrepreneur Charles Lazarus started Toys “R” Us in Washington, D.C., in 1957.

The chain first expanded into Canada in 1984, with a location in Brampton, Ont. It reached Winnipeg when it opened two locations, including the St. Matthews Avenue store, in September 1989. At that time, the since-demolished Winnipeg Stadium (which became Canad Inns Stadium in later years) was located across from the store.

The U.S. parent company filed for bankruptcy in September 2017. Afterward, the Toronto-based investment firm Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. bought the chain’s Canadian assets for about $300 million.

Fairfax sold its Canadian Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us operations in August 2021 to Putman Investments for an undisclosed amount, while retaining ownership of the vast majority of its real estate. Putman also holds the Sunrise Records, HMV and Northern Reflections brands under its banner.

Toys “R” Us has one remaining store in Winnipeg, located at 1560 Regent Ave. W. The company renovated the location last year to add PlayLab, a three-level indoor play structure and party space.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca