New Store Announced For Empty Wappingers Babies R Us Location

The empty Babies R Us on Route 9 in Wappingers will soon have a new tenant.

In 2018 all of the Toys R Us and Babies R Us locations in the Hudson Valley closed down after the company went belly-up after years of financial struggles. It was a painful loss for parents who depended on the store for baby supplies and kids who lost the "world's greatest toy store."

Since then, many of the former buildings have found new life. The Toys R Us on Route 9 in Poughkeepsie was completely remodeled and reopened as a Burlington Coat Factory, but the Babies R Us store remained on the market without a buyer. Seasonally, the building was rented out by Spirit Store, but outside of the short-lived Halloween season, the vacant building had remained as an eyesore, sitting empty between Aldi and Kohls.

Well, that's all about to change. A new business is currently moving into the old Babies R Us building and will open up in two weeks.

ReStore, operated by Habitat For Humanity of Dutchess County, will be moving from their current location on Neptune Rd. to the vacant building in the Nine Mall Plaza. According to Community Development Director, Jessica Miuccio, the store will open its doors for a "soft opening" on January 23 with new operating hours of 10am to 5pm. The old location is still open but will close starting on Monday to prepare for the move.

Executive Direct Maureen Brennen Lashlee says the move is good news for both customers and donors.

Habitat for Humanity of Dutchess County is so incredibly pleased to (announce) that our ReStore is moving to a larger and more customer friendly location. Not only is the Nine Mall Plaza conveniently located... (it) is also on the LOOP run. Every item purchased brings a family closer to a permanent home they can call their own. We can’t wait to meet our new customers and welcome our faithful customers back.

Two large loading docks in the back of the building will make dropping off furniture and other donations easy, while the added indoor space will allow more items to be on display for customers.