Toys and Joys

While many retailers foundered this past holiday season, same-store sales at domestic Toys R Us units exceeded expectations, rising 3.5 percent for the nine-week period ending December 30.

And the company's Internet branch (Toysrus.com) fared well, too, tripling last year's sales to $39 million. Conversely, competitor eToys Inc. just announced it would close two warehouses and dismiss 70 percent of its labor force.

New ceo John Eyler took the reins of Toys R Us last January, and the Paramus, N.J.-based company has altered it strategy by introducing higher-end products instead of continuing to go head-to-head with Wal-Mart, which has tended to dominate the lower end of the toy market in recent years.