Toys R Us Likely To Close All Pennsylvania Stores

Toys R Us announced Thursday it will be "winding down" its store operations in the United States. The troubled retail toy giant said it has filed a motion seeking bankruptcy court approval to begin the "orderly" wind-down of operations and liquidation of inventory in all of its 735 United States stores, including 31 in Pennsylvania.

The company said it is in discussions regarding a transaction that could combine up to 200 of the top-performing United States stores with its Canadian operations. "While discussions continue on this potential transaction," the store said it will begin liquidating inventory in all the United States stores.

The company said it will provide more details about the plans for the liquidation and going-out-of-business sales in the near term.

Toys R Us did not provide a date as to when the stores will be shuttered. But a company spokesperson told USA Today that the company plans to honor gift cards only for the next 30 days.

"I am very disappointed with the result, but we no longer have the financial support to continue the Company's U.S. operations," Dave Brandon, Toys R Us chairman and chief executive officer said in a statement. "We are therefore implementing an orderly process to shutter our U.S. operations and will pursue going concern sales or reorganizations of certain of our international businesses, while our other international businesses consider their options."

The closure of seven Pennsylvania Toys R Us stores was announced in January.

In September, Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy amid waning sales and mounting debt. The toy store chain has faced stiffening competition from Amazon, Walmart and Target.

Philadelphia-area Toys R Us stores are located in Langhorne, North Wales, King Of Prussia, Montgomeryville and more. You can see a full list of Pennsylvania locations here.

Photo: Getty Images.