SOUTH ELGIN – The region's newest toy store will open later this year in a new shopping center being developed on Randall Road.

But what the opening of South Elgin's Toys R Us store will mean for the Toys R Us store at Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles has yet to be determined.

This winter, Toys R Us began work on the construction of a new 15,000-square-foot store in South Elgin, just north of the Target store and L.A. Fitness, near the intersection of Randall Road and McDonald/Stearns Road.

A Toys R Us spokeswoman said the store will be among the most recent opened by the chain this year, as it rolls out its new concept of integrated Toys R Us and Babies R Us superstores.

She would not say what the time frame is for the store to open, or how many people might be employed at the store.

However, Steve Super, community development director for the village of South Elgin, said developers have told him they hope to open the store before Christmas.

South Elgin has been talking with the developer for years about building on the site. But the project began moving forward several months ago when the developer approached South Elgin with plans for the Toys R Us-Babies R Us concept store.

Super said developers were greatly helped by the completion of the Stearns Road corridor, which connected Route 25 in South Elgin to McDonald Road at Randall Road and offers another way across the Fox River.

"We're very happy that we're still seeing new construction and growth," Super said. "In these times, it's really great."

However, what the new store may mean for the Toys R Us store now in operation on Route 64 on St. Charles' east side remains unclear. Toys R Us has closed other stores in the region, including the Toys R Us at Spring Hill Mall in Carpentersville, in recent months.

The proposed South Elgin Toys R Us-Babies R Us store would be less than a 10 mile drive from the Toys R Us store at Charlestowne Mall.

When asked whether the St. Charles store would remain in operation following the opening of the new South Elgin store, the Toys R Us spokeswoman declined to comment.

"We are still in the very preliminary planning stages for our new store location and do not have any other details to share at this time," she said in an e-mailed response.