Buffalo, NY — As was long anticipated, the Associated Press reports the decision to eventually close all its 800 stores apparently came down Wednesday from Toys R Us in an announcement to employees. The AP and many other publications and news organizations are quoting toy industry analysts. The company has so far declined to comment.
But the impact of any closing could be felt for years by the employees, toy manufacturers, and all those people who seek out the perfect toy for their children.
Retail experts say Toys R Us has been going down for some time. Since the late 1990's and then into the 2000's, the competition really heated up for those toy buying dollars.
The chain, saddled with five billion dollars in debt from a 2005 leveraged buyout, just could not keep up with retail rivals and changing trends for the toy market.
UB Associate Marketing Professor Charles Lindsey says Walmart, Target, and then of course e- commerce with Amazon chipped away at and then just took away the Toys R US market share which was still substantial at 13 percent and $11 billion.
Now who will profit at their expense? Where will the toy shoppers go from here?
It turns out some expected stores and some unexpected retailers may gain. Dr. Lindsey says, "We can even think of discount fashion retailers like TJ Maxx and of course your traditional big box retailers like Walmart and Target. I think they're going to take advantage of this to a certain extent. And I think Amazon as well. If you look at the growth in online shopping and in almost every category and Amazon and other online players..I would expect...going to take advantage of this to a certain extent."
Lindsey says they are not many great options for Toys R Us employees. He says major toy manufacturers like Mattel, which of course runs Fisher Price operations in this area, really counted on Toys R US as a major customer but also as a product testing and evaluation source for the toy market.
There was also no comment back from Fisher Price locally on any potential impact. Also the three Toys R Us locations in Amherst, Williamsville, and Hamburg were seen as kind of semi-anchor stores for strip malls and complexes. So any closings could hurt a bit as well on that point.