Toys"R"Us Lays Off Up to 15% of Corporate Staff

Toys“R”Us Inc. recently laid off between 10 percent and 15 percent of its corporate employees, the latest traditional brick-and-mortar retailer to cut jobs as shopping rapidly shifts from physical stores to online ones. About 250 jobs were eliminated at the Wayne, N.J.-based company, people familiar with the matter said. The layoffs were announced Friday. Toys"R"Us CEO David Brandon told The Wall Street Journal, "Like other primarily brick-and-mortar retailers, Toys"R"Us had trouble attracting enough shoppers to stores during the critical holiday season as e-commerce sales continued to pick up speed."

Total Retail's Take: Traditional retail brands like Toys"R"Us are facing the stark reality that their business models are going to have to evolve if they hope to survive. Store closures — and subsequent job cuts — as well as corporate reorganizations are commonplace in today's retail industry. These job cuts at Toys"R"Us are just the latest example. As more and more consumers opt to shop online — including via their phones — retailers are evaluating the role brick-and-mortar stores will play in their future. Unfortunately, some tough decisions have already been made, and more are likely to follow.