North Brunswick Babies R Us/Toys R Us Will Close; EB?

NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Sorry, shoppers: The North Brunswick Babies R Us on Rt. 1 is on the list of 182 Toys R Us stores slated to be shut down nationwide. The next nearest location is the Toys R Us on Rt. 18 in East Brunswick, which will remain open. The liquidation sale at the North Brunswick store has begun, while the East Brunswick store's sale may begin at the end of the week.

On Wednesday morning, the children's and babies' retailer giant announced the 182 stores that are on the chopping block as they struggle to climb back from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in September. The toy store chain has faced stiff competition from Amazon, Walmart and Target.

The closings will begin early in February and run through mid-April. A closure date for the North Brunswick location has not been announced yet, a store employee told Patch Wednesday.

Going-out-of-business sales will begin in early February and the majority of stores will begin winding down operations in mid-April, Toys R Us corporate spokeswoman Nicole Hayes said.

The 182 stores nationwide represent about 20 percent of Toys R Us locations, which says it will keep 1,600 stores open nationwide. In New Jersey, 12 stores will be shut down:

• Phillipsburg 1280 Rt. 22 & St. James Ave.
• Eatontown 137 Route 35
• Bridgewater 100 Promenade Blvd.
• Union 2700 Route 22 East.
• North Brunswick 909 US Hwy 1 South.
• Burlington Rt. 541 & Cadillac Road
• Cherry Hill 2135 Route 38
• Wayne 7 Wayne Hills Mall
• Paramus 545 Route 17 South
• East Hanover 98 Route 10 West.
• Elizabeth-KidsWo 900 Center Drive
• Mt. Olive 50 International Drive South.

Many of the surviving locations will be merged into Toys R Us and Babies R Us, the company said.

Photo: Getty images