Toys R Us Closing: How Long Are Your Gift Cards Valid?

PITTSBURGH, PA - Expect a final flurry of activity at Toys R Us, as people flock to the stores to use any gift cards before the soon-to-be extinct retailer closes its doors in the U.S. forever

The company announced Thursday that it’s seeking bankruptcy court approval to begin liquidating the inventory at its 735 U.S. stores and then closing them. The move will cost 33,000 employees their jobs.

"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 CEO, 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 move will not immediately impact the retailer's international operations.

Toys R Us began the year with more than 800 stores across the country under the Toys R Us and Babies R us monikers. In January, Toys R Us said it would close about 20 percent of its locations, including those in Ross, Monroeville, Washington and Beaver. The company’s other southwestern Pennsylvania locations are in Cranberry, West Mifflin, Robinson and Greensburg.

Toys R Us did not provide a date as to when all 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. Retailers in bankruptcy aren’t obligated to honor gift cards, but most do at least while they attempt to reorganize.

The demise of Toys R Us will be a significant blow to the toy industry as the chain makes up about 15 percent of American toy revenue.

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

Photo: Getty Images.