Chicago's Toy Story

Two weeks after Toys “R” Us announced it was going to close 64 stores and cut 1900 jobs nationwide, Crain's Chicago Business has reported that the first of many other shoes has begun dropping. The retailer will close five of its 27 stores in Illinois, including the 60,000-square-foot local flagship on State Street.

Other area stores slated to go dark include a 45,000-square-foot store on West Cermak Road; a 21,000-square-foot Kids “R” Us in suburban Downers Grove; and downstate stores in Decatur and Peoria.

At the time of its announcement, the retailer — which opened its huge new-concept flagship store in New York's Times Square in November — said it will be focusing on renovating certain locations to its newest format. The 64 stores were to include 27 toy stores and 37 Kids “R” Us stores.

Chairman and ceo John Eyler had said the company would convert toy stores near closed Kids “R” Us outlets to combo stores. It plans to add about 100 combo stores this year, for a total of 375 by the end of 2002, and plans to renovate 30 more Kids “R” Us sites. In addition, Eyler said the company was finalizing its design for a combination toy-baby-kids store concept called “Kid Central.” It hopes to open four 40,000-square-foot test stores by the end of the summer in lower-density markets.