Kids R Us No More
By George Anderson
Toys R Us has decided that its future is not in children’s apparel. The chain announced it would close all 146 free-standing Kids R Us clothing stores by the end of January,
according to the Washington Post.
The decision to close Kids R Us as well as all 36 Imaginarium educational toy stores owned by Toys R Us was made after the company posted a loss of $38 million for the third
quarter.
Analysts are saying that the Toys R Us decision was long overdue.
Sean McGowan, a managing director at Harris Nesbitt Gerard said, “Closing Kids R Us has been appropriate for quite a while now from the shareholder’s standpoint. This thing has
not produced decent economic returns for decades.”
Moderator’s Comment: What are your thoughts on Toys R Us’ decision to close its Kids R Us and Imaginarium units and what it must do to grab a larger
share of the toy and complementary products market?
We’ve heard this before. It seems as though every year at about this time, we hear how Toys R Us had done this or that to right the ship. We’ll believe
it when we see it.
As to finding a fix for its problems, Toys R Us has issues to deal with across just about every discipline, from logistics to customer service, so the chain
needs time to correct its problems.
A good start might be if the chain remembered that toy shopping is supposed to be fun. It has demonstrated it can put products on the shelves. Perhaps now
it could show it understands its customers. [George
Anderson – Moderator]