NEW YORK (AP) ? Toys R Us is scaling back on holiday pop-up stores this year and betting that offering more exclusive toys ? like Air Swimmers Extreme, a helium-filled radio-controlled shark that floats through the air ? will help attract shoppers into its stores during the all-important holiday season.
CEO Jerry Storch said at a press conference Wednesday that the company hasn’t yet determined how many pop-up stores it will open this year. But it will open fewer than the 600 it had in 2010 and more than the 90 it opened 2009. Instead, Toys R Us is adding more exclusive toys and bolstering its online business.
Toys R Us, in Wayne, N.J., still plans to hire about the same amount of seasonal workers as it did 2010, about 45,000.