The Toys”R”Us chain of stores have been on a rocky roller coaster ride for the last few years, seeing shops closing in some of their most prestigious locations, but it would appear that times are still uncertain for Jeffrey as the doors are closing on their store in Elche.
Traditional retailers are facing a global problem from the internet, with giants like Amazon threatening stores around the world as more and more shoppers choose the online option rather than taking to the streets themselves.
Despite the Christmas period being seemingly successful, it doesn´t appear to have been enough to save the Elche outlet.
That said, in Murcia, the store next to Ikea was closed recently as that moved into bigger premises in the main Centro Comercial Nueva Condomina mall nearby. Other than Murcia, the closest will now be San Juan in Alicante.
Following on from the threat of online dominance, the Spain and Portugal operation of Toys”R”Us has also been developing their online strategy. In July of last year, they reported on a ”new chapter” for the toy shop, which “strengthens its commitment to technology by implementing Openbravo Commerce Cloud software in all its stores in order to improve customer experience.”
They had also launched a new website in June 2019, which featured a “cleaner, more functional and faster design as well as new services such as Click & Collect”, although the “collect” element requires them to have stores on the ground for people to visit.
They even had a new motto last year, “Forbidden NOT to touch!”, in which Toys “R” Us Spain & Portugal “moves ahead with this new chapter where its stores evolve towards more visual and experiential spaces that encourage children to feel and test the toys on display, play with them and enjoy them in various play areas.”
Toys “R” Us Spain & Portugal has a network of 53 locations in Spain and 11 in Portugal – most recently, with the opening of a store in El Algarve – as well as its online stores. In total, the company employs about 1,300 employees. The first location of Toys “R” Us in Spain was opened in 1991 in Sant Quirze del Vallès (Barcelona) and 20 years later, in July 2011, it began selling online in Spain through the www.toysrus.es and www.babiesrus.es websites.
