Toys R Us manager loses store but gains national movement
On June 30, I closed the doors to my Toys R Us store that has been my home and livelihood for 30 years. I was awash with memories of happy kids, young parents and birthday parties. I was also angry.
I feel betrayed by Bain Capital, KKR and Vornado Realty Trust for how they abandoned Toys R Us employees and their families.
In March, when I found out that all Toys R Us stores would be closing, I was devastated. “How am I going to pay my bills? What will I do without medical benefits? Will I be unemployed? For how long?”
That same week, I lost my mother.
I took solace in the company’s long track record of providing severance to all employees facing a layoff and was gutted to realize that I wouldn’t receive a penny.
I felt heartbroken and alone, until I found a group of other Toys R Us employees who were fighting to get what we’re owed. I joined Rise Up Retail to fight for all of us who are left to fend for ourselves against greedy Wall Street giants.
This didn’t have to happen. Toys R Us has been a profitable company, bringing in $11 billion in sales every year. It’s always been America’s favorite toy store. But Bain Capital, KKR and Vornado burdened Toys R Us with more than $5 billion in debt, which meant the company needed to pay more than $400 million in interest every year. It’s
HOME DELIVERY RATES tough to compete with debt like that.
I made sure everyone in my store knew who was really responsible for Toys R Us bankruptcy — Wall Street billionaires. They were mad, too.
So we came together and took action. We flew from Florida to New York City to march directly into the offices of Bain Capital, KKR and Vornado. We shared our stories, our memories and cried from the pain of losing it all. When I came back to Florida, I organized more. I talked to every single one of my coworkers — and workers at other stores, too.
Our store closed, just like hundreds of stores all over the country. Every day that week, employees somewhere protested or walked out of their stores. My store and others across Florida joined in calling for severance pay for all our years of service.
As a leader in Rise Up Retail, I find comfort and support in a community that believes we have to fight for what’s right. There are a million people just like me who work for retailers owned by private-equity firms — Staples, PetSmart, Nine West, Burlington Coat Factory and many more.
You better believe that now tens of thousands of us are unemployed, and we’re doubling down to demand severance. We have all the time in the world to fight Wall Street, and we’re not going away.