Toys R Us To Close Or Sell Entire US Chain

Last Updated on December 23, 2019 by Danielle

Toys R Us

News has broken that Toys R Us will reportedly shut its doors after 70 years of business.

It’s a sad day in the world of toys. Toys R Us, the iconic American specialty toy mega store chain, will reportedly close or sell its entire retail chain of stores in the United States. This amounts to roughly 800 retail stores. Earlier today, it was also announced that all of the UK Toys R Us stores will be closing. This news will deal a heavy impact to the toys industry, as Toys R Us generated roughly 15 percent of its revenue.

Many industry experts were predicting this outcome after the beleaguered iconic toy retailer failed to find a buyer and restructure its massive debt. Reports had leaked last week stating Toys R Us was preparing to liquidate all of its retail stores.

Reportedly, Toys R Us’ CEO David Brandon told employees today that it will be closing all stores, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal.

Over time Walmart and Target gradually started to chip into Toys R Us’s dominance in the toy world. And then Amazon stepped into the ring and that really took a heavy toll on its business. Many people also pointed out that Toys R Us’s prices were generally higher than competitors’ and some of their stores were run down and understaffed.

Eventually Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy protection in September of last year with optimism of rebounding. Then earlier this year Toys R Us announced that it would close 182 stores. This announced was later followed by another announcement that it would close an additional 200 stores. Then the final blow came today and the rest is history.

Toys R Us reportedly had roughly $5.3 billion of debt and had not turned a profit since 2012. Lackluster holiday sales didn’t help much either.

There are many parents and kids who grew up as Toys R Us kids, who can even sing their famous jingle, “I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us kid.” Toys R Us started out as a small children’s store and grew into the biggest toy company in America and was recognized the world over. Toys R Us may be physically gone, but our favorite memories of going to our local Toys ‘R’ Us will never be forgotten in our hearts. What are your favorite Toys R Us memories? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Source: CNN

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