Aurora Toys R Us Off The Chopping Block

AURORA, CO -- In a reversal decision, the Aurora Toys R Us/Babies R Us at 1150 S. Ironton St. has been scratched from the list of the national toy retailer's closing stores. The company announced they were closing 182 stores (about 20 percent) in bankruptcy court documents filed in a Virginia court.

But a new list of locations have been spared from the chopping block because their leases have been renegotiated, the company announced Friday. The only location in Colorado (the Aurora store) formerly marked for closure is now spared, according to company spokesperson Amanda Kahl.

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.

A court still has to sign off on the mass closures.

The company, based in Wayne, New Jersey, has about 880 stores in the U.S. Existing stores will be combined into Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores.

The moves come four months after Toys R Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid declining sales and climbing debt.

Savvy shoppers can take advantage of going-out-of-business sales, which are slated to to begin in February. Other states were even harder hit. In California alone, 27 stores are planned to be shuttered. Florida has 11 locations due for closure, New Jersey has 12 and New York has 15.

You can find a complete list of locations here.

By Patch Staff writer Lorraine Swanson and National Editor Shannon Antinori
Photo credit: Diana Haronis | Getty Images