June 24 (UPI) — Toys ‘R’ Us confirmed all of its U.S. stores will close Friday, while some stores may close earlier.
The toy retailer began sharing videos featuring interviews with shoppers on Saturday, counting down the final six days before all Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us locations in the United States close on June 29.
Customers were encouraged to take advantage of the store’s final days closing sale, offering between 50 percent and 70 percent off all items in the store as locations look to sell off their remaining inventory.
Some stores in various parts of the country aren’t likely to make it to the Friday deadline and will close as early as Tuesday, USA Today reported.
Jim Silver, editor in chief of toy review website TTPM.com, told USA Today potential buyers have expressed interest in acquiring Toys ‘R’ Us brand names.
“I firmly believe there will be Toys ‘R’ Us stores, bricks and mortar, in 2019,” Silver said. “This is the end of the chapter, not the story.”
In May, Billionaire toy mogul Isaac Larian, whose company MGA Entertainment makes Bratz and Little Tikes toys, abandoned his bid to save the company by offering to buy Toys ‘R’ Us stores in the United States and Canada for nearly $900 million along with a group of investors.
Toys ‘R’ Us filed for bankruptcy last summer, following after accruing $8 billion in debt from a leveraged buyout in 2005 and announced in March it would close all its U.S. stores.
