Liquidation sale begins at Exton Babies R Us
EXTON » The liquidation sales have begun for select Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores across the country, including the Babies R Us in Exton, at 104 Bartlett Ave.
Toys R Us announced Jan. 24 that 180 stores across the country would be closing as part of the company’s restructuring. That original list required court approval and has since been adjusted to 144 stores.
The Babies R Us store in Exton is among the stores slated for closure. The liquidation sale at the store began on Wednesday.
It is one of seven Pennsylvania Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores that are on the list. An eighth store — a side by side Toys R Us/ Babies R Us store at 100 Welsh Road in Horsham has been taken off the list.
The closing sale is offering shoppers initial discounts of up to 30 percent. In addition to store merchandise, store furniture and fixtures will also be available for sale. The closing sales are being handled by a consortium that consists of Gordon Brothers, Hilco Merchant Resources, Tiger Capital Group and Great American Group.
Stores that are closing will continue to honor customer programs including gift cards, Endless Earnings and credit card specials, according to a press release.
Hobbled by $5 million in debt, Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy protection in Sept. 2017. In a letter to customers when the store
closings were announced Jan. 24, CEO Dave Brandon said tough decisions are required to save Toys R Us.
Prior to announcing the stores that would close, a review of the company’s store portfolio was conducted, which looked at several factors, including store performance, the local market and overall financials — including lease terms.
While the number of employees per store varies, each store averages 25 fulland part-time team members. Plans are in place to support employees during the transition which could include relocation to other stores, or a severance package if the employee cannot be placed, the company said in January.
The majority of the targeted locations will close by mid-April. At some other locations, the retailer is combining its Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores. No information has been made available by the company
about where those combinations will occur.
Toys R Us operates about 900 stores in the U.S., including 34 in Pennsylvania.
Toys R Us, based in Wayne, N.J., has struggled with debt since privateequity firms Bain Capital, KKR & Co. and Vornado Realty Trust took it private in a $6.6 billion leveraged buyout in 2005. The plan had been to take the company public again, but weak sales
have prevented that from happening. With such debt levels, Toys R Us has not had the financial flexibility to invest in its business.
While its numbers have been shrinking, Toys R Us still sells about 20 percent of the toys bought in the U.S. according to Stephanie Wissink, an analyst at Jefferies LLC.
Toys R Us reigned supreme in the 1980s and early 1990s, when it was one of the first of the “category killers” — a store totally devoted to one thing: toys. Its scale gave it leverage with toy sellers and it disrupted general merchandise stores and mom-and-pop shops.
Now Toys R Us and other “category killers” like the now-defunct Sports Authority, Borders and Circuit City, are being upended by a new force: Amazon.com.
Toys R Us has also been hurt by a shift to mobile devices as well, which take up more and more play time.
Toys R Us closed its flagship store in Manhattan’s Times Square, a huge tourist destination, about two years ago.