![]() ![]() The Halloween concept often gets placed in former big-box stores, and at about 10,000 square feet, it doesn’t use all the space. The Halloween pop-ups make it easier for Party City to test what it’s calling Toy City, because the company already hires seasonal workers and leases locations. Last year, about 250 pop-ups generated $54 million of Party City’s $2.37 billion in total sales. ![]() Party City - which has more than 900 stores, including franchises, in the United States and Canada - has also been running temporary Halloween City locations for the last decade. The longtime industry leader not only faced increasing competition from Walmart and Inc., but also was buried under $5 billion in debt from a 2005 leveraged buyout. The company considered the strategy for several years and then accelerated plans with the struggles of the last national toy chain, whose jingle “I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys R Us kid” became part of the American lexicon in the 1980s. That’s likely to change, but for now, Party City is making the plunge. or Target Corp., were expanding offerings. ![]() So far, there have been few signs that other major outlets for toys, such as Walmart Inc. business this year was which retailers would go after its customers. One of the big questions since Toys R Us began liquidating its U.S. “Customers are going to be looking for something to fill that void, and we intend to do that.” “There have been years and years of a standalone toy store that is now gone,” said Ryan Vero, Party City’s president of retail. If the pop-up pilot goes well, the company probably will expand the format next year. Party City is also adding more toys to its website as part of a push into the category. and plenty of Santa suits and stockings for Christmas. The assortment will include top brands from Hasbro Inc. Party City plans to operate 50 pop-up toy stores from September through the holiday shopping season, possibly in former locations of the defunct chain, executives said in an interview. is going after the gaping hole left by Toys R Us’ demise in the United States. Competitors often buy up the rights to keep another rival from using them. Frequently, when a retail chain sells off its brand names and logos, little is done with them. The real estate portfolio is being sold separately, the people said. There are also concerns that it might be too late to restart the business in time for this Christmas shopping season, they said.įor a successful revival, Storch’s group would have to win a bankruptcy auction for the chain’s intellectual property in about a month. Credit Suisse Group AG is being used as a financial advisor and the discussions have included Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., the investment firm that acquired the Canadian unit of Toys R Us, some of the people said.Īny comeback is considered to face long odds because of how far the former market giant has fallen, the people said. Jerry Storch, a former chief executive officer of the defunct toy chain, has been working with multiple investors on a plan to reboot the retailer in the United States, according to people familiar with the situation who asked not to be named because the talks are private. ![]() A revival of Toys R Us might be in the works. ![]()
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