Admittedly, both are mostly regional chains. BR Spielwaren is the German branch of BR, whose parent company Top-Toy, as we learned a few weeks ago, is ceasing all operations. The German branch declared bankruptcy back in early December and announced that it would pull back out of Germany entirely. BR operates 21 stores in Germany with 180 employees, ten of them in the city-state of Hamburg, the rest of them in the North German states of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. The stores have been stated to remain open for business for the time being. German language news 1 German language news 2 Intertoys is a Dutch toy retailer that operates 23 stores in Germany, most of them in the West German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with the exception of one single store in the middle of Germany, in Frankfurt. Over the past few years, Intertoys has closed a lot of stores (in downtown Oberhausen, inside the Rhein-Ruhr-Zentrum shopping mall in Mülheim an der Ruhr and in Essen-Altenessen, just to name those I personally know of). Once a subsidiary of Blokker Holding along with its Dutch-only sister chain Bart Smit, both companies were sold off to Alteri Investors in 2017. Last July, it was reported that Intertoys would cease all operations in Germany, but operations in the Netherlands would not be affected. All stores are expected to close for good this January. German language news 1 German language news 2 German language news 3 German language news 4 German language news 5 Meanwhile, the German division of Toys"R"Us, which has been sold off to Irish toy giant Smyths, is expected to undergo a risky name change this year. The good news is that it was announced last August that the store in Neuss, which was supposed to close under the old owner, will remain open. German language news 1 German language news 2
The name change for the first German Toys"R"Us stores into "Smyths" is underway. The current plan is to retain the existing workforce. German language news 1 German language news 2 However, at least one store (in Heilbronn) is closing this upcing Saturday, because the owner of the K 3 shopping mall didn't renew the lease for the store. 15 employees are going to lose their jobs, although the legal term of notice will apply. German language news
Is it typical for European companies to go "oh me oh my we're too broke to improve our service in any way" and then waste millions on pointless rebranding efforts?
Toys"R"Us was still considered profitable in the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). That's why the Smyths brothers bought it in the first place! They're clearly seeing a future here. I just hope the current changes on their website are merely an indication of an upcoming complete rebranding and reboot of their online store. Right now, Toysrus.de has trimmed down its selection of Transformers offerings considerably, no longer giving customers the option to buy individual figures, but only select the assortment and then receive a randomly picked toy from said assortment. I really thought jokes like this had become a thing of the past with the introduction of individual EAN barcodes for every figure at the beginning of 2017. Hopefully, this is only a temporary situation.
Additional Intertoys locations may close (286 Dutch stores, 3200 employees): Intertoys files for bankruptcy | Toy World Magazine Intertoys files for bankruptcy Dutch toy store chain Intertoys declared bankrupt
Toys R Us is already talking about a come back in the States as Goeffrey's Toy Box. It is starting as a store in a store. Toys 'R' US to officially relaunch as Geoffrey's Toy Box
I Still Function! - Geoffrey’s Toy Box Is The New Toys "R" Us - Transformers News - TFW2005 Geoffrey's New Troops To Command: Toys R Us Re-Emerges as Tru Kids Brands - Transformers News - TFW2005