Following the Toys R Us company filing for protective bankruptcy in the US, it is now expected that Toys R Us will close around 26 stores throughout the country with the potential loss of up to 800 jobs. Closures are not expected to take place until the New Year but the Coventry store in the Cross Point Business Park appears to be remaining open as it has not been included in the list of stores that are due to shut. The nearby store in Solihull also appears to be safe although the Toys R Us stores that are based in Leicester, Birmingham and Tamworth have been included in the list of stores intended to close.
The closures are expected to start at some point during Spring 2018. The company intends to use a Company Voluntary Arrangement so that its debts can be paid off over a period and may convert some of its existing warehouse stores into smaller shops. It is not known if the Coventry store will undergo any alterations. Toys R Us UK are also expected to relaunch their website in a bid to further increase online sales.
A statement from Steve Knights, the managing director of Toys R Us UK, has offered reassurance to customers that the company will continue trading as normal over the festive period and into next year and that online shopping will continue as normal and there will be no changes to gift card or returns policies. He explained that the company was looking to move away from the structure of the larger warehouse type stores that were now not proving to be profitable and close these ones.
He added that smaller, interactive stores had generally successful trading figures and that the company had seen a substantial growth in both click and collect and online sales. The company viewed shutting a third of their total stores as a chance to transform their business so that it was better equipped to meet the changing needs and shopping habits of their UK customers.
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