The distributor of toys iconic toysrus, severe financial hardship, announced Thursday that it was going to put into liquidation its 735 stores in the United States.
The group provides a “reorganization” and a “sales process” for its operations in Canada, Asia, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Toys’r’us has also indicated that the options remained open for its other overseas operations, including its stores in France, but also Australia, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
The chain is said to have launched at the same time a tender procedure for its canadian stores and be “in discussions with interested parties to a transaction that would combine up to 200 american stores the more cost-effective with its canadian operations”.
65,000 employees
Toys’r’us, headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey (east) and whose employees americans account for more than half of its 65,000 employees, says it will detail “soon” its projects on the liquidation of its stores in the us, and divestments. “The group and its advisors, strive to minimize the impact of the liquidation on the markets in canada and abroad,” said the CEO of toys’r’us, David Brandon, quoted in the press release. An “arrangement” for the continuation of activity is put in place “for the next 60 days,” he added.
Toys’r’us was declared bankrupt in September 2017, placing himself under the protection of chapter 11, a provision for the united states allowing a company to continue to operate normally to protect itself from its creditors. But the group has continued to meet with difficulties to raise and find the money.
The dispute with Amazon
With a turnover of some $ 11.5 billion in 2016, Toys “R” Us is behind the american giants of the distribution such as Wal-Mart and Target. The group rather in the second division, as macy’s stores, whose sales had the highest take-off sites such as Amazon. In the year 2000, Toys “R” Us had signed an exclusive partnership with Amazon.
But the case had ended in litigation four years later. According to analysts, this failure has played a crucial role in the current difficulties of the group, to have delayed the development of the brand on the internet. In the toy industry, Toys “R” Us is the world number one with a market share of more than 23%, the difficulties are particularly violent to the physical stores. Their sales have dropped by a quarter between 2011 and 2016, according to data firm Euromonitor.
(Source AFP)
