Toys R' Us Store Closing At The Summit

BIRMINGHAM, AL - As part of a plan to shutter roughly 180 stores across the country, Toys R' Us announced it will be closing its store located in The Summit shopping center in Birmingham. The company will also close its Tuscaloosa location on McFarland Boulevard, according to reports. Last fall, Toys R' Us filed for bankruptcy amidst sinking sales and increased competition from online retailers.

The company said a number of its existing locations will be co-branded as Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores, according to CNBC.The retailer filed for bankruptcy protection about four months ago. The company, based in Wayne, New Jersey, has about 880 stores in the U.S. The number of closures nationwide are about 20 percent of its U.S. stores, according to court documents filed in a Virginia bankruptcy court.

David Brandon, chairman and CEO of the toy retailer, said the brand is reinventing itself, and that requires some "tough decisions about our priorities and focus "The reinvention of our brands requires that we make tough decisions about our priorities and focus," Brandon said in a letter posted on the company's website late Tuesday.

The stores are scheduled to close in February.

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