Toys R Us closing local stores June 30

The end is near for Toys R Us.

The bankrupt toy retailer began its final liquidation sale on March 23 and has been closing stores around the country since. In central Ohio, the five stores that remain open will close forever on June 30.

Toys R Us stores at 4285 Groves Road, 1400 Gemini Place and 6547 Sawmill Road in Columbus and 851 S. 30th St. in Heath will close at the end of the month. A Babies R Us location at 2686 Taylor Road in Reynoldsburg also will close.

Nearly 1,200 employees in Ohio — 213 in central Ohio — have lost their jobs or will lose them when the last of the stores close, according to a company filing with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

The once-dominant toy retailer recently posted online that markdowns have reached the 50 to 70 percent range. Although bargain-hunters grabbed the more in-demand merchandise weeks ago, some items remain.

Toys R Us, based in Wayne, New Jersey, struggled with debt after private-equity firms Bain Capital, KKR & Co. and Vornado Realty Trust took it private in a $6.6 billion leveraged buyout in 2005. The chain succumbed to not only heavy debt but also changing trends, including online shopping and mobile games.

Other companies, seeing that Toys R Us was vulnerable, got more aggressive. J.C. Penney opened toy sections in all 875 stores last fall. Target and Walmart have been expanding their toy selections. Even Party City is building up its toy offerings.

The $11 billion in annual sales at Toys R Us will disperse among other retailers such as Amazon and discounters, analysts say. A going-out-of-business sale is advertised outside Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores in New Jersey. The five remaining central Ohio stores of the two chains close on June 30.