Toys"R"Us will open a 5,528-square-foot Express store at Bridge Street Town Centre in Huntsville, mall officials announced, returning the toy brand to the same shopping center it left during the chain’s 2018 liquidation. No opening date has been announced.

Toys"R"Us Express will occupy space near the fountain, on the corner across from Great American Cookie, according to a September 14, 2026 report by WZDX. The store adds a national family brand to a property that Tanger Inc. (NYSE: SKT) purchased for $193.5 million in November 2023 and has been re-leasing since, and it lands at an address the toy chain vacated when it wound down its U.S. operations eight years ago.

Key Details

• Store: Toys"R"Us Express, described in the announcement as a pop-up store
• Size: 5,528 square feet
• Location: Bridge Street Town Centre, 365 The Bridge Street N.W., Huntsville, AL 35806, near the fountain across from Great American Cookie
• Announced by: Bridge Street Town Centre officials, September 14, 2026
• Opening date: Not announced
• Property owner: Tanger Inc. (NYSE: SKT), which bought the 825,000-square-foot center for $193.5 million in November 2023

What Will the Toys"R"Us Express Store Sell?

Toys"R"Us Express will carry what mall officials described as a curated selection of family favorites, including arts and crafts, action figures, puzzles, electronics, books and games. That merchandise list is the only product detail released so far.

Marcie Glover, marketing director at Bridge Street Town Centre, said in the announcement that “we’re excited to welcome Toys’R’Us Express to Bridge Street Town Centre and bring another fun, family-focused experience to our guests.” Glover said the addition “further enhances the variety of experiences available at Bridge Street and gives families another reason to visit, explore and spend time together.”

The announcement did not identify who will operate the Huntsville store, disclose lease terms, or say how many people it will employ. Go! Retail Group, which states on its website that it operates Toys"R"Us stores in the United States, lists 36 locations across 22 states as of September 15, 2026. Alabama is not among them.

Tanger Has Been Reworking the Tenant Mix at Bridge Street

Tanger Inc., a publicly traded retail real estate investment trust, acquired Bridge Street Town Centre on November 30, 2023 for $193.5 million. The center covered 825,000 square feet and was more than 93% occupied with over 80 retail stores, restaurants and entertainment venues at closing, according to the company’s announcement.

Bridge Street was the only open-air lifestyle center in a Tanger portfolio that then held 38 outlet centers and more than 15 million square feet across 20 states and Canada. Stephen Yalof, president and CEO, said the purchase was a selective investment in a complementary open-air destination, and the company projected a first-year return in the mid-eight percent range.

Leasing activity at the center has continued since. Bridge Street Town Centre announced North Italia, Shake Shack and Sweet Paris in July 2026, with Shake Shack slated to open its first Huntsville location there in 2027. Other national retailers have also moved into the market, including Nordstrom Rack’s first Huntsville location, announced for spring 2027. The Bridge Street lineup includes Apple, LEGO, lululemon, Sephora, L.L.Bean, Madewell, Anthropologie, Rowan, Connors Steak & Seafood, The Cheesecake Factory and Main Event.

The Brand Closed Its Bridge Street Store in 2018

Toys"R"Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2017 and moved to close or sell more than 700 U.S. locations in March 2018, including the Huntsville store at Bridge Street Town Centre, WHNT News 19 reported at the time. A 2014 figure cited in that reporting put the Huntsville store at just under 40 full-time employees, plus part-time and seasonal staff.

WHP Global acquired a controlling interest in Tru Kids, the parent company holding the Toys"R"Us, Babies"R"Us and Geoffrey the Giraffe brands, in March 2021, backed by a $350 million equity commitment from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management. Terms were not disclosed. At the time, the brands operated more than 900 stores in over 25 countries, and WHP said it planned U.S. openings in several formats, including flagships and pop-ups.

Toys"R"Us Express is the pop-up end of that strategy. Hville Blast described the Express format on September 14, 2026 as a smaller, scaled-down version of the original franchise, and the Bridge Street announcement likewise called the Huntsville store a pop-up.

What This Means for North Alabama

The announcement did not include an opening date, an operator, a jobs figure, or a lease term, and Toys"R"Us Express was not listed in Tanger’s online store directory for Bridge Street Town Centre as of September 15, 2026. Readers looking for a hiring announcement or a firm opening will not find one in what has been released.

What the announcement does establish is that a 5,528-square-foot space at one of Madison County’s largest retail properties has been leased, and that the tenant is a national brand with no other Alabama store on its U.S. operator’s published list. For a center whose owner told the city it intended to preserve the open-air lifestyle format, a family-traffic anchor of this kind is a leasing data point, not a jobs announcement — one more entry in the Huntsville business news record of national brands testing the market that Huntsville’s small and mid-sized business base has been built around.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Toys"R"Us coming back to Huntsville?

Yes. Bridge Street Town Centre officials announced on September 14, 2026 that a 5,528-square-foot Toys"R"Us Express store will open at the shopping center in Huntsville. No opening date has been announced, and the announcement did not name an operator or disclose lease terms.

Where will the Huntsville Toys"R"Us be located?

The Toys"R"Us Express store will be at Bridge Street Town Centre, 365 The Bridge Street N.W., Huntsville, AL 35806, near the fountain on the corner across from Great American Cookie, according to the announcement and reporting by WZDX and Hville Blast.

What is a Toys"R"Us Express store?

Toys"R"Us Express is a smaller-format store, described in the Bridge Street announcement as a pop-up and by Hville Blast as a scaled-down version of the original franchise. The Huntsville location will run 5,528 square feet and carry arts and crafts, action figures, puzzles, electronics, books and games.

When did the old Toys"R"Us in Huntsville close?

The Huntsville Toys"R"Us at Bridge Street Town Centre closed during the chain’s 2018 liquidation. Toys"R"Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2017 and announced in March 2018 that it would close or sell more than 700 U.S. stores, WHNT News 19 reported.

Who owns Bridge Street Town Centre?

Tanger Inc. (NYSE: SKT), a publicly traded retail real estate investment trust, has owned Bridge Street Town Centre since November 30, 2023, when it bought the 825,000-square-foot open-air center for $193.5 million. The property was more than 93% occupied at the time of the sale.

The next verifiable milestone is an opening date. Bridge Street Town Centre has not announced one, and Toys"R"Us Express does not yet appear in the center’s published store directory. The Huntsville Commerce Report will update this article when a date, an operator, or a hiring plan is released. More coverage is filed under Huntsville business news and Huntsville small business news.