We’ve been sharing Toys’R’Us news stories on our Twitter account @TokuNation a lot lately. The reason we’re doing that is because as a site that frequently promotes toys and collectibles, losing the largest toys and collectibles retailer in the world is kind of a big deal.
Toys’R’Us is expected to file liquidation papers today (Wednesday) to give to the court tomorrow (Thursday). This will officially mark the end of Toys’R’Us in the United States as we know it. A report from the Wall Street Journal states that CEO David Brandon announced to home office personnel in a conference call today (Wednesday) that the company is filing liquidation papers today for the court hearing tomorrow (Thursday).
Earlier today, Toys’R’Us UK also announced liquidation with all UK stores closing within the next 6 weeks. Toys’R’Us Canada is seemingly in a better place financially with no updates on their situation, and Toys’R’Us Asia is actually profitable and is expected to be sold to other shareholders in China turning them in to majority shareholders and giving them control of business operations.
A report from CNBC has come out stating that Toys’R’Us may also keep up to 200 US stores open after liquidation, combining those stores with the Toys’R’Us Canada operation, effectively making Toys’R’Us (in the US at least) a Canadian retailer operating in the United States. Those 200 stores would undoubtedly be profitable stores with favorable real estate deals. However, at the time of this posting, there is no concrete information available to share on that note.
As more news breaks we will share it with you. A complete liquidation of US Toys’R’Us stores will result in a 33,000 loss of employees, making it the largest retailer to shut down (in terms of employee size) since Sports Authority went out of business at the end of 2016. Our thoughts are with all the families suffering with the fate of their future paychecks.