Carrots R Us?

Toys R Us Inc. (Parsippany, N.J.), which announced earlier this week that it would be closing 64 stores and upgrading 130-140 into its newest format, said another concept being tested would sell groceries as well as toys.

Chairman and ceo John Eyler said the company, which is also closing 37 of its Kids R Us stores, would likely convert toy stores near closed kids stores to “combo” stores, and that food products might be part of the combo. Eyler said the company plans to add about 100 combo stores this year, for a total of 375 by the end of 2002.

Eyler, who was hired from F. A. O. Schwarz in January 2000, has been converting the company's toy stores to a Mission Possible format, from long impersonal aisles stacked with Barbies and bicycles to cozier, carpeted spaces. Aisles are wider, shelves lower, merchandise more accessible, lighting and signage better and personal service improved. To date, 433 of the 703 toy stores in the United States have been remodeled, at an average cost of $600,000 a store.

There are more themed areas in the new format, and more vendor shops. The retailer has also been widening its lineup of private-label toys, including an exclusive line of plush animals and tool sets linked to The Home Depot.

Some analysis is that Toys R Us, battling its primary rival Wal-Mart, is trying to copy the strategy of Target Stores, which competes successfully with Wal-Mart by designing and building more high-concept stores. The new Toys R Us stores are expected to have more style and charm than Wal-Mart stores. “Wal-Mart is everybody's biggest competitor,” Eyler said, “and they continue to build stores and grow. But we are convinced that as we execute these strategies, as they build their market share so will we.”