Toys R Us to close Fort Smith, Little Rock locations, restructure company

Toys R Us locations in Fort Smith and Little Rock will shutter their doors in 2018, according to information provided by a company spokesperson following the blog that announced 180 nationwide closures from Chairman and CEO David Brandon on Wednesday (Jan. 24).

Closure dates were not provided, with the company saying a “majority” of stores closing in mid-April 2018.

Taylor O’Donnell, a media representative for the company’s midwestern arm, told Talk Business & Politics that stores 7821 (Fort Smith) and 7712 (Little Rock) would be the Arkansas locations affected. Additionally, the region will close stores in Oklahoma (Norman, Oklahoma City) and Texas (Allen, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Hurst, Irving, Lewisville, and Robstown).

To the question of how many employees would be affected, O’Donnell said the number of employees varies by store, “but averages roughly 25 team members (a mix of full and part-time) per store.”

“We have plans in place to support affected employees during the transition by placing as many team members as possible in other locations, or provide severance as is our normal practice,” O’Donnell said.

The company does not disclose the terms of severance packages.

In an open letter on Wednesday, Brandon wrote that Toys R Us “launched a financial restructuring of our business last fall” and that the focus has been on “reimagining our business with you (the customer) in mind.” Brandon said there were “far too many transactions” due to “operational missteps” where the company failed to “make it easier for you to shop with us, whether online or in our stores.”

Brandon said the “reinvention” of the Toys R Us brand “requires that we make tough decisions about our priorities and focus.”

“To that end and following a top-to-bottom assessment of our business, we have decided to close a number of our US stores. We also intend to convert a number of locations into co-branded Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores. The actions we are taking are necessary to give us the best chance to emerge from our bankruptcy proceedings as a more viable and competitive company that will provide the level of service and experience you should expect from a market leader,” Brandon said, adding that the company estimates store closing sales “to begin in early February with the majority of locations closing in mid-April 2018.”

Founded in 1948, Toys R Us hit the public market in 1978, trading on the stock market for close to 25 years before a leveraged buyout from KKR & Co. L.P., Bain Capital, and Vornado Realty Trust, all of whom own equal stakes in the company.

Closure of the Fort Smith store at 5609 Rogers Ave. follows closely on the heels of the Nov. 11, 2017 closure of Staples, the big box office supplies retailer once located between Toys R Us and the current location of Burlington Coat Factory (5721 Rogers Ave.)