Toys'R'Us ($PRIVATE:TOYSRUS) and Target ($TGT) have made an unlikely alliance, one that will keep the bankrupt retailer alive on the internet for the foreseeable future. Whenever customers go to toysrus.com they will be directed to target.com to complete any order. The deal was announced only a few days ago, and is all thanks to the TRU Kids brand, which will allow Toys R Us to slowly start making a comeback.

As a result of the new website and ability to actually order toys and games online, we've seen a jump in the number of times people share the toysrus.com URL to each other this week.

There's been a 5% jump since the end of September, and we imagine as word gets out, Toys R Us will start to mount a comeback. It's the snowball effect happening in real-time.

While nothing has happened to the social media following, if Toys R Us is able to have a strong Black Friday and subsequent holiday season, this one left for dead company might be able to rise from the grave.

Also, by the way, is it Toys R Us? Or Toys'R'Us, or Toys "R" Us? 

“We have completely reimagined [the website] ... to a site which is immersive and heavily content oriented. One of the things we have been working on with the initial launch is to make the site very relevant for consumers this holiday season ... with a big focus on the products we think will be magic this year." - TRU Kids CEO Richard Barry

Ironically, former Toys R Us employees are upset the brand is making such a comeback. Here is the full staff count of people on LinkedIn, before we get into the toy buying frenzy that is the rest of the year.

About the Data:

Thinknum tracks companies using information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

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