Interest emerges in Toys ‘R’ Us store
A LITTLE over a month after the closure of Toys ‘R’ Us in Cairns, the Showground Shopping Centre building has had its first inquiries from interested retailers – but no toy stores.
Ray White Commercial general manager Scott Green said they were in talks with a couple of potential lessees, but it was early days.
“Normally the way it works with this sort of thing is once word gets out and we start advertising, within the first twothree VACANT: Toys R Us building. weeks you start to get inquiries,” he said.
“So far, we haven’t been able to attract another toy or baby store, so it would be a completely different business.
“We had an inquiry from a national, and I recently had a meeting with another group that was interested, but these things don’t happen overnight.”
Mr Green said one company that had contacted them was a Townsville-based business seeking to establish a foothold in Cairns.
“They’re all doing their duediligence at the moment, so I likely won’t hear back from them for a while, but they could be complementary to the town,” he said.
Cairns Toys ‘R’ Us permanently closed its doors in early August. Its collapse in Australia, along with Babies ‘R’ Us followed the US parent company filing for bankruptcy protection in September last year.
Administrators McGrathNicol Restructuring Partners Jason Preston, Keith Crawford and Barry Kogan confirmed the closure following failed efforts to sell the business in June.
The Showground Shopping Centre, on the corner of Mulgrave Rd and Buchan St in Bungalow, is home to a number of stores including a drivethrough Zarraffa’s Coffee, Cash Converters, Subway and Silly Solly’s.
SO FAR, WE HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO ATTRACT ANOTHER TOY OR BABY STORE, SO IT WOULD BE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BUSINESS
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