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What's left of Toys R Us is returning for the holidays, with Geoffrey's Toy Box set up shop in about 600 Kroger stores in nearly 30 states, the nation's largest supermarket chain said Friday.
The grocery chain is the latest retailer to make a play for Toys R Us shoppers. Walmart and Target are expanding their toy sections, and Amazon is sending physical toy catalogs to customers.
The move at Kroger's is not entirely a surprise, given the bankrupt's retailer's mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, in April made an unexpected – and for some unwelcome – appearance at a toy industry trade show, seemingly feels a group of lenders that controls the bankrupt retailer's intellectual property and is planning a second act.
A company called Geoffrey LLC was formed last month by the funds that took control of the retailer's assets on the basis of their intellectual property, opting to resuscitate the brand instead. The venture's Geoffrey's Toy Box sections at Kroger supermarkets will sell toys from some of Toys R Us' train private labels, including Zone, Imaginarium, Girls Journey, Edu Science, You & Me, and Just Like Home, ranging from $ 19.99 to $ 49.99 .
The Kroger's move is part of an effort by Solus Alternative Asset Management and Angelo Gordon to raise capital to revive Toys R Us as a stand-alone outfit, according to Bloomberg News.
"We're excited to offer Geoffrey's Toy Box," Robert Clark, Kroger's senior vice president of merchandising, stated in a news release.
"Richard Barry, Executive Vice President of Geoffrey's Toy Box and formerly Chief Merchandising Officer at Toys R Us, said Richard Barry, executive vice president of Geoffrey's Toy Box and formerly chief merchandising officer at Toys R Us.
The news is not sitting well with the 33,000 Toys R Us workers, Carrie Gleason, policy director for the United Organization for Respect, or OUR, an advocacy group pressing the financial firms behind the decision to liquidate Toys R Us to contribute to a fund for employees.
"It's shocking that Solus and Angelo Gordon would launch Geoffrey's Toy Box without first doing right by the 33,000 families that have been struggling since these hedge funds shut down the blinds," said Gleason, whose group is leading fund to help the workers
"I'm sweet bitter," Ann Marie Reinhart, a 29-year-old Toys R Us veteran, told CBS MoneyWatch. As a grandmother, Reinhart said she was "happy they are opening for children" in Kroger stores, recalling how she loved watching her.
A store supervisor in Durham, North Carolina, when she lost her job in April, "She said, adding that the decision to retreat from the company's previous policy of paying severance left workers feeling betrayed.
Earlier this month, Sen. Angelo Gordon, Franklin Mutual Advisors, Highland Capital, Oakland Capital, Solus and Vornado Realty Trust to explain why they have been pushed to liquidate the toy seller rather than reorganize under bankruptcy protection.
Private equity investors KKR and Bain Capital are working to create a fund to support R, Gleason said. As for the other investors: "Hundreds of Toys have been hired by these hedge funds and asked to contribute to the fund, and they have refused," she said.
The devastation from the retailer's demise extends beyond the tens of thousands of laid-off workers, Gleason said, citing the negative impact on business for toymakers, including Mattel, Lego and Hasbro, which has recently announced layoffs. "We're losing manufacturing jobs from this mess," she said.
A spokesman for Angelo Gordon declined how, while Solus referred requests for an agency representing Toys R Us, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Reached for comment, none of the other six financial firms involved.
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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