Toys R Gone: Here’s what we know about plans to reuse the old Kennewick store
The long-closed Toys R Us at Kennewick’s Columbia Center is getting a multi-million dollar makeover, according to plans submitted to the city of Kennewick in February.
The commercial alteration request, which has not been approved, shows the 19,109-square-foot spot would get a $2.2 million makeover that includes a new exterior storefront that would “meet TJX standards.”
TJX refers to The TJX Companies Inc., the Framingham, Mass.-based parent company of T.J .Maxx, HomeGoods, Marshalls and several other brands. It has three stores in the Tri-Cities, including two within shouting distance of the old Toys R Us.
Neither TJX nor Columbia Center officials could be reached to comment on plans to reuse the space.
The space has been mostly vacant since Toys R Us went out of business five years ago amid crushing debt brought on by a leveraged buyout 13 years earlier.
Its space, 1321 N. Columbia Center Blvd., Suite 821, is south of the main mall building, across the parking lot from Dick’s Sporting Goods and Barnes & Noble.
The site was previously looked at as a potential home for TJX’s Sierra brand.
Erasing Toys R Us
The proposed work was submitted to the city on Feb. 13. The city said it has requested additional information from the project architect and referred questions to mall management.
Public details are scarce, but a general description of the tenant improvement work suggests a significant renovation that will erase any sign Toys R Us was ever there.
The existing interior walls, lights, ceilings, finishes and fixtures will be replaced with new ones, including a “demising” wall to separate the area into two or more individual stores.
A portion of the exterior will be demolished to create a new storefront for an unspecified TJX brand. There will be new signs, improvements to the loading dock and new screens to conceal compactor equipment.
Toys R Us closed all 800 of its U.S. stores, including the one in Kennewick, in 2018 after filing for bankruptcy in 2018, eliminating 33,000 jobs in the process.
A 2019 attempt to revive the brand launched just months before the pandemic.
Spirit Halloween, a seasonal retailer, regularly used it as temporary space in the subsequent years. The rest of the year, it remained dark.
TJX cluster in Kennewick?
The renovations raise the possibility that TJX is creating cluster of stores at or near Columbia Center.
It operates a HomeGoods store three doors from the Toys R Us spot. It has a T.J. Maxx store across Columbia Center Boulevard at Columbia Square, a separate shopping center best known for its empty Bed, Bath & Beyond spot.
Its other U.S. brands include Marshalls, Sierra and Homesense.
There are several Marshalls stores in the region, including one at Vintner Square in Richland.
In late February, TJX reported net income of $4.5 billion on net sales of $54.2 billion for the year that ended on Feb. 3, an increase of 9% over the prior year.
At the time, Ernie Herrman, CEO and president, said surpassing $50 billion represented a milestone for the company and hinted at aggressive growth to come.
“Longer term, we are excited about the potential we see to strategically grow our business, capture additional market share, and increase the profitability of our company,” Herrman said in an earnings statement.
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