While retail bankruptcies have become nearly commonplace in recent years as investors’ run wallets-first toward online shopping, the bankruptcy filing of Toys ‘R’ Us is still notable in that the largest U.S. toy store chain is also one of the largest retail bankruptcies of all-time.
Only outranked by a 2002 Kmart and a 1990 Federated Department Stores filings, Toys ‘R’ Us now lays claim to being the third largest retailer that has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to Bankruptcydata.com on Tuesday. The site ranks the bankruptcy size by assets, and looks back as far as Chapter 11 as we know it has existed: since 1978.
That comes after Toys ‘R’ Us, once dubbed a “category killer,” filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Richmond, Va. court Monday. The retailer was saddled in debt, some $4.9 billion, left from a 2005 leveraged buyout for about $6.6 billion by private equity giants Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Bain Capital, as well as real estate trust Vornado.
Toys ‘R’ Us’ largest unsecured creditors include Bank of New York with $208.3 million, Mattel with $135.6 million, Hasbro with $59.1 million, Graco Children’s Products at $59.1 million, and Spin Master at $32.8 million.
Meanwhile, its sales have failed to keep up with its debt load, with investors blaming its poor performance on its weak online push. While the company posted $11.3 billion in sales in 2000, that figure was at just $11.5 billion by 2016.