After announcing plans to shutter 182 stores last year, Toys ‘R’ Us is reportedly set to do it again, this time closing around 200 stores.
Plans for the closures are reportedly still in the works, and the actual number of stores that are to be closed is subject to change, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
The news of the closures comes after Toys ‘R’ Us filed for bankruptcy in September. At the time it had 1,600 stores worldwide, 800 of them in the United States. The additional closures are thought to be the result of a disappointing holiday season.
In January, the company had promised severance to all of the employees at the affected stores. It has since reversed that promise and will be offering no compensation for store-level employees that are laid off through store closures, although some may be eligible for bonuses based on the performance of liquidation sales.
A Toys ‘R’ Us representative tells Fortune that The Journal’s story about the possible store closures is based on pure speculation and that the company’s focus is currently on the reinvention of its business and its emergence from Chapter 11. The representative says that decisions about the company’s future store footprint and organizational structure will be based on the needs of its new business model and that it’s premature to comment on what that will mean for the future of stores at this time.
