Toys R Us closing LC store
Published 7:05 pm Sunday, March 18, 2018
Emily Fontenot
Toys R Us will soon shutter its Lake Charles store after 22 years in business, leaving few options for local shopping in a market increasingly dominated by online sales.
The decision came after corporate leaders pulled the plug this week on all remaining U.S. locations following a disappointing holiday season — the last straw for the debt-ridden company.
Once the go-to toy shop for millions of Americans, Toys R Us has been wedged out in recent years by online-savvy retailers like Amazon and Walmart. The New York Times reported that online toy sales in the U.S. has risen by over 55 percent over the past two years.
In an email to the American Press, corporate spokeswoman Nicole Hayes confirmed that all Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores in the U.S. will close, including the Lake Charles location.
Store manager Yvonne Johnson said she got word on Friday that the closing would take 10-12 weeks, with liquidation sales starting in about a week.
She said the store, staffed by the seasons, employs about 20 people now but will hire more to handle the anticipated spike in business once the liquidation sales begin.
Johnson cautioned people not to expect major sales right away, saying they will gradually increase as the final date nears. She deferred to corporate for further comments.
“This is a profoundly sad day for us as well as the millions of kids and families who we have served for the past 70 years,” said CEO Dave Brandon in a news release this week.
The toy emporium is also closing shop in the United Kingdom and possibly other international locations, according to Associated Press reports. In the U.S. alone, the closure signals the termination of around 30,000 jobs at over 700 stores.
Natasha Mir, owner of Emily’s Children Store on Ryan Street, said she hopes the end of Toys R Us will bring more buyers her way. But she said online retailers will sweep many of those sales up.
“Hopefully, with Toys R Us not open it will help us as much as it can, but the basic problem is the Internet,” said Mir, who opened the store in 2005 as a toys and uniform shop.
She said all brick-and-mortar stores are struggling to compete with online options, but that her business has managed to maintain a loyal customer base because of its service and curated toy selection.
Mir said selling uniforms has also helped, whereas Toys R Us stuck to its toys-only model until the end.
Toys R Us is the only dedicated toy store in the area, opening in November 1995 to large crowds. A picture that printed at the time showed shoppers lining up outside the store waiting to be allowed in because the building had hit capacity.
The area around Walmart near La. 14 was just then expanding into “one of the fastest growing in Lake Charles,” with a theater and a Wendy’s on the way, according to an August 1995 article.
