We thought Toys "R" Us was getting extreme last year, when it announced plans to open 350 pop-up stores across the country for the holidays. Apparently, that was nothing.
This year, the retailer is upping the ante, with plans to open 600 of them in vacant retail spaces, essentially the same number as its traditional store count. Guess there are some attractive rent breaks out there after all...
The strategy supposedly worked for Toys last year. During the fourth quarter, same-store sales rose 3.3%, up from a decline of 3.4% during the same year-ago period. And strong sales are important for a company on the verge of going public.
Do you think this pop-up strategy is the way to go, or are this many a bit of an overkill? More importantly, will strategies like this help Toys better compete with the likes of Walmart?
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