After news of the Toys “R” Us Bankruptcy hit in September, shoppers have clearly become wary of supporting Toys “R” Us stores this holiday season. Combine that with another sharp rise in online ordering, and they are seeing a noticeably slower holiday sales season this year. According to Bloomberg, sales have declined 15% from this time last year, and toy makers such as Hasbro and Mattel are sharing in that misery. With sales declining, Toys “R” Us is weighing the option of closing at least 100 stores in the US, with the option to expand that to 200 stores also being discussed. Here’s a snippet from the article:
Toys “R” Us Inc., which filed for bankruptcy in September, is considering closing at least 100 U.S. stores in the face of weak holiday sales, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
U.S. sales have declined about 15 percent this Christmas-shopping season from a year earlier, according to people recently briefed on the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The number of closed stores could reach approximately 200, one of the people said, but no decision has been made.
Both Hasbro and Mattel saw their stocks fall on news of the potential closings. You can check out the full article Here.