Toys 'R' Us, Babies 'R' Us to close several Minnesota stores
(KMSP) - Update (Jan. 31): Toys "R" Us says the Blaine store will remain open.
Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us announced they will be closing several stores in Minnesota.
In a letter, Chairman and CEO Dave Brandon wrote that the company launched a financial restructuring of the business last fall. Brandon points to "operational missteps" and "gaps in the experience," as problems the company hopes to address.
The reinvention of the Toys "R" Us brands "requires that we make tough decisions about our priorities and focus. To that end and following a top-to-bottom assessment of our business, we have decided to close a number of out U.S. stores," Brandon wrote.
According to reports, the Minnetonka, Blaine, Woodbury and Richfield locations will be closing.
The company also plans to convert a number of locations into co-branded Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us stores.
Toys "R" Us estimates store closing sales will begin in early February with the majority of locations closing mid-April.