TOKYO – Major toy retailer Toys ‘R’ Us plans to withdraw from store operations in Japan, selling its business to the company behind the Don Quijote discount store chain, a person familiar with the matter said on Sept 29.
Toys ‘R’ Us Japan has been losing money in recent years, official gazettes show.
Amid Japan’s declining birth rate, the country has faced shifting demographics with fewer children, while consumers increasingly take to online shopping.
The Japan subsidiary, which has about 150 stores in the country, is owned by Toys ‘R’ Us Asia and employs about 6,000 people, including part-timers, according to its website.
The first Toys ‘R’ Us store opened in Japan in 1991.
The original US operator that launched the iconic toy store in 1948 filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017, while Toys ‘R’ Us Japan, based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, continued Japan operations.
Don Quijote operator Pan Pacific International Holdings declined to comment on the matter. KYODO NEWS
