Toys R Us Closing 2 Iowa Locations

DES MOINES, IA — Toys R Us plans to close 182 stores nationwide — about 20 percent of its stores in the country, according to court documents filed in a Virginia bankruptcy court. The company plans to begin the mass closures early next month, according to documents filed late Tuesday. That process will last through April and includes two Iowa stores in the Des Moines metro.

David Brandon, chairman and CEO of the toy retailer, said the brand is reinventing itself, and that requires some "tough decisions about our priorities and focus.

"The reinvention of our brands requires that we make tough decisions about our priorities and focus," Brandon said in a letter posted on the company's website late Tuesday.

A court still has to sign off on the mass closures.

The company, based in Wayne, New Jersey, has about 880 stores in the U.S. Existing stores will be combined into Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores.

The moves come four months after Toys R Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid declining sales and climbing debt.

Savvy shoppers can take advantage of going-out-of-business sales, which are slated to to begin in February.
In California alone, 27 stores are planned to be shuttered. Florida has 11 locations due for closure, New Jersey has 12 and New York has 15.

Iowa store locations that will close are:

• 1211 E. Army Post Rd., S. Des Moines
• 8801 University Ave., Clive

You can find a complete list of locations here.
Photo credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images