Toys R Us store in Columbus anxiously awaits liquidation sale. It starts Friday.
The staff of the Toys R Us store at Columbus Park Crossing was fully expecting to launch a going-out-of-business sale Thursday, but word from higher up had not come by mid-afternoon.
“We have not started liquidation sales yet,” the 5555 Whittlesey Blvd. location informed customers Thursday on two signs taped to its front sliding doors.
“We understand there may have been reports of our liquidation starting today,” another sign said. “We apologize for any confusion the media may have conveyed on our liquidation sale start date, however, we do not have confirmation as to when the liquidation will begin. Please check back with us for further information and updates.”
Update: Toys R Us begins liquidation sales. Here’s everything you need to know
Thus the waiting game continues for the bankrupt retail company, although media reports are indicating the liquidation ultimately could begin as soon as Friday for the Columbus store and the 733 other Toys R Us and Babies R Us outlets across the U.S.
The company did receive another jolt of bad news Thursday, with the announcement that Charles Lazarus, founder of the 70-year-old company, had died at age 94. He was chief executive officer until 1994.
Hope appears to be all that may be left for the Toys R Us stores, their loyal customers and the communities in which they do business. USA Today reported Thursday that Isaac Larian, a toy manufacturer and chief executive officer of MGA Entertainment Inc., has cobbled together a $200 million pledge from investors and wants to raise another $800 million with a “GoFundMe” campaign to buy a large number of the Toys R Us outlets targeted for closure. Larian, who markets the Bratz dolls and other toys, obviously needs the retailer to survive in some form or fashion.
The employees of the Toys R Us in Columbus were left wondering Thursday what the future holds, some who have worked there for years. They also were advising customers to use gift cards as quickly as possible. It is likely when the liquidation process does begin — possibly on Friday — that all sales will become final, with no merchandise returns allowed. The store on Thursday was fully stocked.
The damage of the bankruptcy filing and subsequent store closure announcement last week by Toys R Us Chairman and CEO Dave Brandon appears to be taking its toll among customers, however. A woman entering the Toys R Us store Thursday in Columbus was overheard offering her young kids a glimpse of their shopping future.
“Toys R Us is going out of business, they’re going away,” she said. “Your children will never shop at a Toys R Us.”
For Columbus Park Crossing, the loss of Toys R Us would be the third major retailer to succumb financially along Whittlesey Boulevard, with Sears pulling the plug on its department store nearly a year ago as part of a round of closures by its struggling parent company. Indianapolis-based electronics hhgregg also closed last May after its bankruptcy quickly turned to the total liquidation of the company. Sears Holdings also eliminated all of the Kmart locations in the Columbus-Phenix City market a year ago.
Toys R Us has operated in the market more than three decades. It has done business at Columbus Park since 2002, relocating that year from 3150 Macon Road in Midtown Square shopping center, where it had been since at least the mid-1980s.
This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Toys R Us store in Columbus anxiously awaits liquidation sale. It starts Friday.."