The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Toys R Us stores attract interest
Aldi, Big Lots and a Greenwich real estate investment trust were among the initial bidders Thursday morning for a percentage of Toys R Us stores nationally, with Connecticut locations having yet to be put on the auction block.
As first reported by CNBC, Urstadt Biddle Properties bid Thursday morning to acquire a Toys R Us store in Emeryville, Calif., with the Greenwich firm up against a rival REIT for the property. Urstadt Biddle owns an extensive portfolio of retail shopping centers in the Northeast, listing no West Coast properties in its current portfolio.
CEO Wing Biddle declined comment to Hearst Connecticut Media on why Urstadt Biddle has interest in the California building, citing competitive considerations, and whether his company would bid on additional Toys R Us locations in Connecticut or elsewhere.
In all, nine Northeast Toys R Us stores in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts drew initial interest from would-be acquirers of nearly 60 locations nationally, a third of them owned outright by the toy retailer. The auction kicked off at 10 a.m. Thursday at the New York City offices of Kirkland & Ellis, which is representing Toys R Us in its bankruptcy dissolution.
Raymour & Flanigan put in bids for a Toys R Us location at Union Square in New York City and two New Jersey stores in Paramus and West Windsor, with the furniture retailer already having stores in Danbury, Milford and Norwalk where Toys R Us is conducting clearance sales.
Other prominent bidders nationally include Aldi, the Germany-based discount grocer which committed last year to a $3.4 billion U.S. expansion to add 900 stores nationally, with the company having markets in Danbury and Milford but none to date in lower Fairfield County. Big Lots is exploring the purchase of five Toys R Us stores, with the retailer having 14 locations in Connecticut including in Milford, New Milford and Derby. And Fit Factory has bid on two Toys R Us stores, with the company having several Northeast fitness centers.
Financiers, suppliers and other creditors have through April 6 to file claims on Toys R Us assets as the company turns its focus to an outright liquidation from the Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring it initially envisioned last September before weak holiday sales doomed it. Local unsecured creditors include the Wilton-based toy company Melissa & Doug, which filed separate claims for $1.6 million and $1 million.