Babies ”˜R”™ Us in Yonkers will close on April 16, laying off 49 employees, as part of the Toys ”˜R”™ Us bankruptcy reorganization.
The store at 2700 Central Park Ave. is one of 182 Toys ”˜R”™ Us stores across the country, including 30 locations in the tri-state region, that are being shuttered as the company cuts costs and restructures. The closed stores account for about 20 percent of the Wayne, New Jersey company”™s locations and employ about 4,500 workers.
The Yonkers layoffs were disclosed in a recent state Department of Labor Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification.
Toys “R” Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September, in Richmond, Virginia. It won a ruling to delay its store closure decision until after the usually lucrative Christmas season. But Christmas sales were disappointing, according to news media accounts.
Toys ”˜R”™ Us is struggling with the same challenges that other brick-and-mortar enterprises face with online sales. Revenue has declined in recent years as Amazon”™s toy sales have grown.
The company also is weighted down by $5 billion in long-term debt from the 2005 takeover by private equity firms Bain Capital and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and by real estate investor Vornado in a leveraged buyout.
Local consumers could find a bright spot in the company”™s troubles. The bankruptcy court has approved going-out-of-business sales from February through April.
