All Under One Roof

Toys 'R' Us Inc. will combine its stand-alone toy and baby stores under one roof, in an effort to boost the company's bottom line, the Wayne, N.J.-based company said.

“Mom is time-starved and this gives her the ability to buy everything she needs for her children at one stop,” said Jerry Storch, chairman and chief executive of Toys 'R' Us, comparing the idea to discount big-box retail chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The Wayne, N.J.-based retailer has been testing the concept over the past year by converting a number of smaller-sized toy stores into combination toy and baby stores, and is now creating much-larger superstores that sell baby and toy products.

The idea, according to Storch, is to entice busy parents shopping for baby goods at the Babies 'R' Us chain to buy playthings as well. The effort is aimed to boost the toy stores, which have struggled with competition against retailers like Target Corp.

The baby and toy stores will have separate entrances and signs. But once inside, consumers can shop both stores freely and check out on either side. The first two new superstores opened in Elizabeth, N.J., and in California, with additional locations expected in Florida and Arizona.

Storch said the dozens of existing 45,000-square-foot toy stores which have been converted to combination toy and baby stores over the past year generally saw double-digit-percentage increases in their sales. “We have plenty of evidence that this is successful,” he said. “This is a major, major shift in this company's direction from a position of relative retreat, into a position of growth, into an aggressive mode.”