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WOODBRIDGE, NJ – Cheryl Claude was two years old from high school, she was already married and raised her first child when she stopped at Toys' R & # 39; They used to buy diapers on a day in 1985. The store manager noticed how Mrs. Claude picked up a toy that had fallen to the floor and put it back on the shelf. He offered him a job on the spot.
She spent 33 years storing shelves and unloading trucks at one of the world's largest toy retailers. "It was my home," said Mrs. Claude, 52 years old.
His career ended Thursday when the Toys & # 39; R & # 39; Us on Route 1 in Woodbridge, New Jersey, has closed definitively.
From here, the shelves were mostly bare, with the exception of a scattering of stuffed animals, tween jewelry and polyester pillows. There were shelves of Pokemon Christmas ornaments and summer outfits for Ken dolls, as well as bright orange price tags on the fridge and folding chairs in the break room.
Most large corporations declare bankruptcy and reduce their costs. But Toys 'lenders' R & # 39; They decided that their activities in the United States were worth more in the context of a final sale than a business in operation.
Claude, a deputy director, and the thousands of other business workers will not receive any compensation after they leave. Employees were told that they did not have enough money left after paying the company 's creditors, bankruptcy lawyers and consultants
. Claude has continued to work in the past few weeks, alongside other longtime employees who have remained in a sense of pride, need or denial.
Iggy Abreu, 46, key chain store, continued to arrive 15 minutes earlier. opens the store at six in the morning, as he has always done
Maggie Kuziw, an inventory specialist, has come to follow the ever-changing price signs.
Cathy Koperwhats continued to run the baby "
" We leave without anything, and it's not a good feeling, "she said
A Toys & # 39; R & # 39; Us Family
] The plan was to empty the Woodbridge store, starting in the back and pushing all the toys toward the front. The motorcycle lane was first emptied, then Thomas the Tank Engine, then Lego and Fisher-Price
Every week, the store shrank from a sprawling showroom to only three toy aisles that nobody wanted. 19659002] As painful as the process is, this is what Cheryl Claude did best: unloading, storing and moving the product
On a hot afternoon in the first week of June, Mrs. Claude carried a roll of tape on his wrist. and barked orders in his helmet at the staff. A delivery truck had just dropped 18 Skylanders pallets – plastic figurines of video game characters. The regional directors felt that the Woodbridge store might have the best chance of selling them
"How are we going to get rid of all this?", She said. Claude stands at 5 feet 1 inch tall, with blond hair at the shoulders. She wears a gold cross around her neck, a small tattoo on her wrist and four metal rods in her back after years of work.
His first job was working nights in the warehouse of the former East Brunswick store. one hour. She took care of her daughter during the day, while her first husband worked as a baker at the nearby Sunshine Biscuit factory.
In the end, Mrs. Claude earned about $ 62,000 as an assistant in Woodbridge. "It was a good job," she said.
It could also be a fun job. There were Halloween parties at Chi-Chi's, a Mexican chain, where Toys 'workers' R & # 39; They played limbo and made the chicken dance. Teens in the area got summer jobs as "toyologists", who went around the store in roller skates trying new toys
Even catching thieves on display could be fun. Mr. Abreu was remembered to have found a collection of collectibles that a client had hidden under a bookshelf. "They are cultured men hiding toys, not children," he said.
Many workers did not pay attention to investment companies KKR, Bain Capital and Vornado Realty Trust in 2005. The company had good years and bad years, but it still seemed fundamentally good.
At the time, Mrs. Claude was working at "the back of the house" in the Toys & # 39; R & # 39; store. Us, East Brunswick
. her husband, John, on a rainy day in 2008. His 6-foot-6 frame was wet with caddies collecting in the parking lot. Mrs. Claude immediately recruited her to work on her unloading truck.
They had their first date at Toys & # 39; R & # 39; Us in Times Square, wearing matching Timberland sweatshirts. She had never been to Manhattan, about an hour from her home. "We were like children," she said. Claude returned to Times Square in August 2016. She was one of dozens of employees honored for their many years of service at a dinner in a Midtown hotel
"Do not worry," read a presentation at the meeting, "All will be well."
Everything is wrong.
A year after the party, Toys & # 39; R & # 39; He declared bankruptcy, citing his huge debts. The company's lawyers were confident that the retailer could continue to operate once it reduced its loan payments. But after a difficult Christmas period, creditors doubted that the company had a viable future and were pushing to close its operations in the United States.
Woodbridge store employees were informed in March that they had three months left to work
. . Koperwhats, 57, felt betrayed. She was thinking about every day of Christmas and Independence that she had missed for over 34 years because she was working. She helped the new parents who came to the baby registry as if they were her own children.
"When I heard that the company had all these debts, it broke my heart," she said. "I never knew it until bankruptcy."
Abreu could not believe it was over. He had started working at Toys & # 39; R & # 39; It was a few years after graduating in Political Science and Criminal Justice. He has had other jobs in the retail business over the years, but toys – especially Star Wars and Transformers – are his "passion."
He usually wears a tool belt on his hips, a screwdriver and an assortment of colored markers. To keep up to date, he liked to research the latest toys on the manufacturers' websites.
"I was told that the next deputy director position that was open was mine," said Mr. Abreu, who was earning $ 12.46 at the time. ]Mrs. Claude's wound on the closures quickly turned into anger. She considered Toys & # 39; R & # 39; Us as his family. Many of his colleagues attended his wedding on the South Amboy waterfront.
In his living room is a plaque in honor of his 30-year working anniversary. His store also gave him a 20% coupon on his next purchase at Toys' R & # 39; They recognize his service.
When the store gave her the coupon, Mrs. Claude discovered that she had already expired.
"How do you sleep at night?"
Two weeks ago, Claude stood at the front door of the Woodbridge store, greeting the guests.
"Can I help you find something?" Asks Mrs. Claude, politely and with a smile, as the store was dismantled.
Far from the store, Mrs. Claude took a different character. She met with the New York Comptroller and US Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez of New Jersey to warn of the inconvenience of debt-driven private equity investments.
She screamed one morning through a megaphone in the lobby of Bain Capital's office. "How can you sleep at night?", She yelled, while other employees of Toys 'R'. They applauded and a phalanx of New York police officers watched them, wearing plastic handcuffs on their belts
. the Rise Up Retail workers 'advocacy group, the Toys' R & # 39; They have participated in protests across the country, demanding new laws that would require retailers to pay their employees and limit the amount of debt of private companies.
Workers owe severance pay of about $ 75 million. In comparison, the company's lawyers and bankruptcy advisers should pay up to $ 348 million in fees.
Ms. Claude started looking for another job. But she is worried about working in the retail sector again. Her husband works twice at the BJ's Wholesale Club and in a Barnes & Noble warehouse. His sister works at Home Depot
"If we do nothing, the same thing will continue to happen," she said
The Final Days
Only a few days, many customers He came at the Woodbridge store to buy shelves and fixtures, not toys.
To save money, the company wanted to close the soundtrack on the speakers, but Mrs. Claude did not want to leave them. "I do not work silently," she says
A man from the real estate company who was occupying the property arrived one morning and tied a small box next to the front door .
He explained to Mrs. Claude that the employees had to drop their keys in the box once they had definitely locked the store.
A customer, 43-year-old Sean Fennick, walked the aisles wearing a Slayer T-shirt and a Batman baseball cap. He had come here since he was a boy, and he always preferred to buy toys in a store rather than online.
"This should not happen to Toys & # 39; R & # 39; Us, "he told Claude. . "I am sorry."
Tensions have sometimes exploded. A heated debate broke out between two customers during the last Minnie Mouse car of the store. Another client threw a stuffed white rabbit against the wall, after being reminded that all sales were final and that he could not return it.
In private, Ms. Claude's usual stamina began to decline. She started adding up her credit card bill, rents and lease payments. She called her daughter in North Carolina in panic.
"How am I going to get through this?", She said.
On the last morning, Mrs. Claude and her colleagues gathered at the crates for a breakfast of bagels, brownies and orange juice.
A small crowd of customers was waiting outside the front door. The workers, dressed in their sky-blue shirts, were preparing to greet them one last time.
But the doors never really opened. At the last minute, a toy dealer entered into a deal with the company to buy all that was left in the Woodbridge store.
The dealer's relocation team rushed inside and began to stuff black garbage bags with pink rugs. Skylander action figures. The company, based in Richmond, Virginia, planned to resell them on the Internet.
Claude looked in frustration. But then she could not stop it. She returned to work telling resellers how to best load their rental truck to make room for all boxes.
Like the Toys' R & # 39; They called the dealers, a man in a tank top and a little. A girl in pink Crocs headed for the door, hoping to enter.
"I'm sorry, partner," said Mrs. Claude. "We are closed, there is nothing left."
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