MANCHESTER — The Babies R Us on Hale Road, which was slated to close this spring, will remain open, a company spokesperson said Wednesday.
Toys R Us, which also operates Babies R Us, announced last week it would close almost 200 stores across the country, listing four Connecticut locations, including Hale Road.
Now, the Manchester Babies R Us and the Toys R Us in Waterbury have been removed from the list of store closures.
The spokesperson did not say why the Manchester store was removed from the closing list.
Toys R Us officials said the list of store closings could change “subject to ongoing lease negotiations with our landlords.”
The list of store closures can be found on the corporate website
www.toysrusinc.com under “about us” then, “restructuring information.” The store list is still subject to change, but was last updated on Jan. 30.
The company filed for bankruptcy last September as a means of taking the first step to financial reconstruction, but sales continued to fall short.
In a report on its third-quarter profits, the company said “disappointing” results “reflect the broad competitive trends across retail, which physical stores have been challenged by customers who prefer to shop online.
Toys R Us, based in Wayne, New Jersey, has struggled with debt since private-equity firms Bain Capital, KKR & Co., and Vornado Realty Trust took it private in a $6.6 billion leveraged buyout in 2005.
Weak holiday sales seem to be the final nail in the coffin for the company, which had said in December it would close an unspecified number of stores.
Originally published by the Journal Inquirer.
Jackie Nappo 