WAYNE, N.J. (AP) — Toys R Us Inc. said Tuesday that it will open 21 new stores before the year ends.
The privately held toy company said this will include 11 "R'' superstores — which have full-size Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores in one location — and 10 stores that will have smaller Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores in the same location. The stores will be in 13 states including Alabama, California, Texas and New Jersey.
Toys R Us has been working for the past five years on having its namesake toy stores in the same building as Babies R Us in order to provide shoppers more convenience. It is remodeling 23 existing stores so that the two stores will be in the same location. Those remodels are expected to be completed by year's end.
The remodels and new stores will create more than 1,100 jobs across the U.S., Toys R Us said.
The Wayne, N.J. company will have 43 superstores nationwide by the end of 2011.
Toys R Us announced a year ago that it hopes to go public again with a stock offering worth as much as $800 million. But the turbulent stock market has led it to a delay in the process. The company, which traces its roots to 1948, was publicly traded from 1978 to 2005.
