Toys R Us has closed its final remaining store in British Columbia, bringing an end to the iconic toy retailer’s physical presence in the province. The last location, situated at Willowbrook Shopping Centre in Langley, was abruptly shut on Tuesday, January 13.
The closure of the Langley store leaves British Columbia without a single full-line Toys R Us location, a dramatic shift for a province that once supported multiple large-format stores across Metro Vancouver and the Interior. The shutdown also underscores the pace and scale of change underway at Toys R Us Canada, which has reduced its store network sharply over the past two years as part of a broad restructuring effort.
Abrupt Closure Tied to Lease Default
The Langley shutdown was accompanied by a notice posted on the store’s entrance by Willowbrook Shopping Centre owner Quadreal Property Group. The notice stated that the tenant was in default of its lease for failure to pay rent, operating costs, property taxes, GST, and other amounts, totaling $98,337.59.
According to the notice, Toys R Us was required to turn over possession of the premises immediately, including keys and security cards. The retailer was also instructed to remove all merchandise and fixtures from the store by Friday, January 16. Contact information for a bailiff company was included, and the notice warned that any items left behind would be deemed abandoned and disposed of by the landlord.
End of an Era for Toys R Us in British Columbia
The closure of the Willowbrook location represents the final step in a rapid withdrawal from British Columbia that has unfolded over roughly 24 months. During that period, Toys R Us steadily eliminated its presence in major urban and suburban markets across the province, culminating in the loss of its last remaining store.
Over the course of 2025, Toys R Us closed its three primary urban Metro Vancouver locations. The Vancouver West Broadway freestanding flagship store shut in mid-2025, ending decades of operation at one of the brand’s most recognizable Canadian sites. In Burnaby, the Station Square store, which had previously relocated from Metropolis at Metrotown, closed later that year after underperforming following its move. Richmond’s Lansdowne Centre mall location also closed in 2025, further eroding the company’s footprint in the Lower Mainland.
These closures followed earlier exits from Coquitlam and Surrey Central in prior years, with neither location replaced. By the time the Willowbrook store shut its doors, Metro Vancouver had already been without a core urban Toys R Us presence for the first time in decades.
After the wave of Metro Vancouver closures, the Langley store stood as the only remaining full-line Toys R Us in the region. Located on the eastern edge of Greater Vancouver, the Willowbrook Shopping Centre site increasingly served customers who were forced to travel significant distances to shop in person.
The reliance on a single suburban location highlighted the extent of the retailer’s retrenchment in British Columbia. With the Langley closure, shoppers across the province are now limited to online purchasing or must travel out of province to visit a physical Toys R Us store.
British Columbia Part of a Wider National Pattern
The shutdown in Langley is part of a sweeping national downsizing that has reshaped Toys R Us Canada’s retail footprint. According to industry and labour reporting, British Columbia has been among several provinces affected by a wave of confirmed closures throughout 2025, with additional locations listed for sale across the country.
Nationally, Toys R Us Canada has declined from 103 stores in early 2024 to approximately 40 operating locations as of January 2026. This represents a reduction of roughly 61 percent in just two years, one of the most significant contractions by a specialty retailer in recent Canadian retail history.
At least 38 store closures were confirmed during 2025 alone, with another 12 locations listed for sale, many at asking prices exceeding $15 million. The pace of closures accelerated sharply in late 2024 and throughout 2025, suggesting mounting financial and operational pressures across the business.
Store Closures Often Unannounced
In several markets, Toys R Us closures occurred with little advance notice to employees or the public. In British Columbia, earlier shutdowns in Kelowna and Kamloops were reported to have taken place with minimal warning, mirroring a pattern seen in Ontario and Quebec during the same period.
The lack of formal public communication has been a consistent feature of the company’s retrenchment. Toys R Us Canada has not released a comprehensive restructuring plan or provided detailed explanations for the scale and speed of the closures, leaving landlords, employees, and shoppers to piece together developments location by location.
Ownership and Corporate Context
Toys R Us Canada is the remnant of what was once a much larger international toy retail empire. In 2017, the original U.S.-based Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy protection, leading to the sale of its Canadian division. The Canadian business was later acquired by businessman Doug Putman through his firm Putman Investments.
At the time of acquisition, Putman expressed confidence in the brand’s future and outlined plans for expansion. However, those ambitions have since given way to extensive consolidation. Putman Investments also operates Sunrise Records, which expanded aggressively by taking over many former HMV locations following that chain’s bankruptcy.
Industry observers have noted that the simultaneous management of multiple retail banners, combined with structural challenges facing specialty retail, may have added pressure to Toys R Us Canada’s operations. The bankruptcy of Everest Toys, another business linked to the Putman family, has further drawn attention to the broader financial environment surrounding the group.
Putman Investments and a Mixed Retail Track Record
Toys R Us Canada operates within a broader portfolio controlled by Doug Putman through his family’s private holding company, Putman Investments, which is based in Ancaster, Ontario. The firm owns a collection of primarily brick-and-mortar retail businesses and related assets across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, spanning music, toys, apparel, home goods, and specialty retail.
Putman Investments gained prominence in Canadian retail circles following the acquisition and expansion of Sunrise Records, which Putman acquired in 2014. Sunrise became the platform through which many former HMV Canada locations were absorbed after HMV exited the Canadian market in 2017. That strategy later extended internationally when Putman acquired HMV UK, including the Fopp banner, out of administration in early 2019, a deal that encompassed roughly 100 stores.
In the United States, Putman Investments expanded further into entertainment retail with the January 2020 acquisition of the distressed FYE chain, which at the time operated approximately 200 locations and included legacy banners such as Sam Goody and Suncoast Motion Picture Company. FYE briefly operated two Canadian stores, one in Ottawa and one in Toronto, though both have since closed.
The group’s most visible Canadian investment remains Toys R Us Canada and Babies R Us Canada, which Putman Investments acquired in 2021 through a deal involving 81 locations previously owned by Fairfax Financial. Alongside the retail network, the portfolio also includes toy distribution and product businesses such as Everest Toys, Alex Brands, Crazy Forts!, and Famous Toys. These assets were intended to support both internal supply for Toys R Us and external wholesale channels, though industry sources indicate that portions of the toy distribution business are now being prepared for liquidation.
Other specialty retail ventures have delivered more uneven outcomes. Early in the pandemic, Putman Investments took over approximately 45 former DavidsTea locations and relaunched them under the T. Kettle banner. The chain contracted rapidly, and today only a single location remains in operation.
In apparel, the company has continued to expand its footprint. Putman Investments acquired Northern Reflections, an established Canadian women’s apparel and lifestyle retailer with roughly 100 stores, in late 2024 or early 2025, marking the brand’s 40th anniversary shortly thereafter. In February 2025, the firm also acquired Ricki’s and Cleo from Comark as part of a restructuring process, adding two more national women’s apparel banners to its portfolio.
One of the most ambitious and ultimately unsuccessful ventures was Rooms + Spaces, a home goods concept announced in spring 2023. The chain was designed to take over more than 20 former Bed Bath and Beyond and buybuy BABY locations across multiple provinces, with initial openings beginning in mid-2023. Operated as a subsidiary of Putman Investments, Rooms + Spaces struggled to gain traction and ceased operations in 2025. The closure occurred amid reports of unpaid vendors, outstanding rent obligations to landlords, and portions of unsold merchandise being redirected into Toys R Us locations.
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