According to Sky News via Toyworld Mag, toy giant Toys ‘R’ Us are to close a quarter of UK stores, removing 25% of their high street presence.
The board of Toys R Us’s UK subsidiary is expected to announce as soon as Monday that it is proposing to launch a process called a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). A CVA is a mechanism enabling companies to organise their funding and operations while enjoying protection from their creditors.
The move, which will require the approval of a 75% majority of the company’s creditors, would leave roughly 25 of the company’s 105 British shops facing closure, according to insiders. However, the affected Toys R Us shops are expected to remain trading throughout the Christmas period and well into the new year.
Toys R Us employs roughly 3200 people in the UK, so a decision to close a quarter of its stores would affect at least several hundred jobs. It is thought that larger out-of-town stores would be disproportionately affected by the closure plan, owing to their weak performance.
That would mark a major change in the UK toy retailing landscape. Stay tuned for more news.
