TOYS “R” Us outlets are closed in the United States, but the brand’s stores are still a popular destination for Shanghai resident Pan Wei. A 35-year-old manager for an entertainment company, Pan does most of his shopping online but prefers physical shops when buying toys for his daughter.

“When it comes to products for kids, we want to make sure it’s safe, so we prefer going to toy stores,” he said.

More than a year after the New Jersey-based chain filed for bankruptcy, forcing the closure of hundreds of stores and layoffs of 33,000 workers in the United States, Toys “R” Us Asia is very much alive. Last month, a group of Toys “R” Us creditors reached a deal with the retailer’s Asian partner, Fung Retailing Ltd., to share control of the company’s stores in China, Japan and Southeast Asia.

Other international brands are also betting that Chinese consumers are willing to go to physical stores with their children or grandchildren. Favorites like Lego Group and FAO Schwarz are among those targeting the Chinese toy-and-game market, which will be the world’s largest by 2022, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Toys “R” Us Asia plans to add as many as 50 new stores next year in China. It’s a big vote of confidence in brick-and-mortar retailing at a time when the growing popularity of e-commerce competitors contributed to the parent’s failure in the United States.

Net sales for China and Southeast Asia were US$375 million for the year ended Jan. 28, 2017, up about 3 percent from a year earlier, based on the company’s last available regulatory filing. Sales fell 3 percent in the United States over that period.(SD-Agencies)