Toys “R” Us Files For Bankruptcy

The Toy Giant Struggling To keep Up Files For Bankruptcy.

By Brandon Lee Westraat on 21st September 2017

The Toy giant has been struggling to keep up as consumers have abandoned their stores for the lower prices and the convenience of online shopping. The company listed debt and assets of more than $1 billion, Tracing back to buyout a decade ago.

Back on South African soil, Toys “R” Us South Africa have completely distanced themselves from their bigger, American brother after they filed for bankruptcy. During this, they stated that South African business is performing well and on an expansion drive. The marketing manager of Toys “R” Us SA, Nicole Angels Clarified that the South African franchise was not in any way adversely affected by the “R” bankruptcy.

The South African retailer plans to soon increase its national footprint with seven additional stores expected to open between October to November, in addition to its current 53 stores. So By December, toys “R” us SA will have a solid 60 store presence. Annells said Amic Trading Toys “R” us Southern Africa, which is registered in South Africa, was a privately-ow3ned independent company, operating under a license agreement with toys R us Inc.

"Amic Trading functions entirely independently from the Toys “R” Us global affiliates. Whilst Toys “R” Us Inc, which incorporates Toys “R” Us US and Canada, evaluates the restructuring of their operations and debt and continue to deliver an outstanding customer experience, this course has no bearing on the license territories which continue to trade as independent entities. The global strength and brand equity of the Toys “R” Us retail brand remain across all global retail locations”, said Annells.

Annells said in the wake of the bankruptcy filing of Toys “R” Us Inc, the news had in fact increased people's brand awareness of the company. Toys “R” Us South Africa as a brand positioned itself as a mass retailers with the “best offering” when compared to other toy rivals, Annells said.

“Hamleys does not compete with Toys "R" Us directly as they offer a different business model”, explained Annells. Asked whether Toys “R” Us SA was also feeling the pinch of online shopping, which was a big factor in its US affiliates bankruptcy filing, Annells said, on the contrary, the company had embraced technology. The toy retailer had an online site and two apps, Toys "R" Us Shopping App and Babies R Us Registry App, she said.

So it looks like we will still be seeing the friendly giraffe on that Toys "R" Us billboard for a while. As the times are changing in this technological world . all we can do is see if Toys "R" Us SA can keep up as the E-commerce world grows and us with it.