TRU Lays Off 250 Employees

Toys ‘R’ Us has laid off approximately 10-15 percent of its corporate employees following its struggling holiday sale results.

April 6, 2018

The toy retailer also saw a 3.4 percent decrease in holiday sales.

In January, TRU reported that its holiday sales results saw a 3.4 percent decrease (2.5 percent domestically and 4.9 percent internationally) for the nine-week period, ending Dec. 31, 2016.

The domestic decrease was attributed to a decline in the entertainment and baby categories, as well as an impact from the early release of the Big Book catalogue. Meanwhile, the decrease in international sales was attributed to softness in the entertainment and learning categories.

“The 2016 holiday season proved to be an unusual and challenging one for most retailers. Despite a promising start over the Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend, we experienced lower than expected sales in the toy category overall and continued softness in our baby business. The loss of momentum in the toy category triggered intense promotional activity from our competitors, creating a significant

competitive challenge,” says Dave Brandon, chairman and chief executive officer, TRU. “Despite the fact that our operational execution was significantly improved versus last year, the marketplace environment precluded us from achieving the top-line growth we had planned for both our domestic and international markets. We are disappointed, but remain firmly committed to take aggressive action as we enter 2017, with a relentless focus on delivering the best experience possible along every step of the customer journey. We have a number of important initiatives planned, including the relaunch of our webstore, which we expect will have a significant impact on our ability to drive future growth in both our baby and toy businesses.”

Overall, the toy retailer eliminated 250 jobs.

“The recent changes are not just about cost-containment–our growth plans require us to have the right structure, talent and determination to transform our business and achieve the financial objectives we’ve set for the company,” says Amy Von Walter, executive vice president, global communications and PR, TRU.