Toys R Us has reportedly told its US employees that it will sell or shutter all of its 885 US stores, putting 33,000 jobs at risk.
The beleaguered retailer, which is already in the process of closing a fifth of its US store estate, has filed liquidation papers this week ahead of a bankruptcy court hearing today.
The retail chain confirmed the closure of its 100-strong UK store estate and subsequent loss of around 3,200 jobs yesterday.
Toys R Us’ chief executive David Brandon said on a conference call with staff that he had “always believed that this brand and this business should exist in the US”, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“The constituencies who have been beating us up for months will all live to regret what’s happening here,” he added.
The business has struggled with a toxic cocktail of mounting debt and poor trading and reportedly stopped paying its US suppliers earlier this week.
The Wall Street Journal said that the retail chain is also likely to go into liquidation in France, Spain, Poland and Australia.
Toys R Us reportedly plans to sell its operations in Canada, Asia and Central Europe.
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