
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.

Joe Keenan is the executive editor of Total Retail. Joe has more than 10 years experience covering the retail industry, and enjoys profiling innovative companies and people in the space.