Thread: Toys R Us opening 600 holiday stores in malls, hiring 10,000

Toys R Us opening 600 holiday stores in malls, hiring 10,000

By Mae Anderson, AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK — Toys R Us plans to invade the mall this holiday season, opening 600 temporary "Express" stores in malls and other shopping centers around the country, more than six times last year's count, and hiring 10,000 seasonal workers.

The move is the latest in Toys R Us' attempt to capture more holiday dollars with tough competition from online retailers and mass merchants such as Walmart and Target. It also fills a gap in shopping malls created when KB Toys, which had been the largest mall-based toy seller, went out of business in 2008.

"We've been very aggressive during the economic downturn, and this is another aggressive action," CEO Gerald Storch said. "During the holiday season, mall traffic ramps up, and this will allow customers to purchase fill-in toys," when they are at the mall already, he said.


RECOVERY WATCH: Tracking the economy
JOBS OUTLOOK: Latest data for all states, 384 metros

Toys R Us opened 90 standalone pop-up stores last holiday season. The company has been working on the plan since last year.

Storch said the company was pleased with the results of the pop-up stores last year, so the question became "'How big can we make this?'"

While Storch won't disclose how much the initiative will cost, he said the capital investment is small, and more money will be spent on hiring and training employees.

The Toys R Us "Express" stores began opening in June and will continue to open through November. About 300 opened during the summer. Most will close in January, but some could become permanent outlet stores. Several of the temporary stores opened last year remain open as outlet stores.

Toy sales traditionally hold up well during tough economic times because parents cut spending on themselves rather than their children. In Toys R Us' most recent quarter, the company reported a loss because of higher costs, but revenue rose more than 5% to $2.61 billion.

Toys R Us has used the weak economy to grow by acquiring smaller toy retailers. In 2009 it acquired pricey toy seller FAO Schwarz and Internet sites eToys.com, babyuniverse.com and toys.com.

The company, based in Wayne, N.J., operates 587 big-box stores, mainly standalone stores in shopping centers, and about 261 Babies R Us stores nationwide.

The privately held company said in late May that it plans to go public by raising as much as $800 million in an initial public offering that would be one of the biggest retail IPOs in years.

But on Wednesday, Storch declined to say when an IPO might occur.

"That's not something that we can predict, it depends on a variety of factors including the health and stability of the markets," he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industrie ... r-us_N.htm

I stopped buying things from Toys R Us long ago because they, like many other retailers decided to stock and sell a bunch of garbage manufactured in China and Mexico. In other words..cheaply made products.

I would never buy my kids the garbage toys made in China or Mexico...

every thing we buy is from another country . i look all the to see if it mexico No way only az I don't buy any more fruit the illigal immigrant pick them. if you don't buy they will be Of work good

While I applaud the opening of a part time stores for the Holiday Season, will they be putting in an effort to sell American Made Products as well????



Kathyet

Originally Posted by latinedi

It is a great thing for every kid to know about that. Near place to get more toys are enjoyable to them. Even to parents, they enjoy seeing there kids playing around with their new toy collections.

You should go visit the sweat shop factories with enslaved workers where these toys are made, you might not enjoy it so much then.

How many Americans can afford toys in these times? Maybe illegal aliens can, but wait what was I thinking?? Illegal aliens are experts at sniffing out where all the freebies are..aka Toys for Tots, etc.

I stopped donating to all organizations that don't ask for proof of legal status, which is pretty much all of them. My charity will be staying home!