Intertoys has sold seven mega toy stores. The sale to ToyChamp was officially announced on Friday-evening.
The so-called XXL toy shops on the outskirts of urban areas, did not fit the strategy of Intertoys and its new Portuguese owner Green Swan. The former Toys “R” Us stores of over 1,000 square meters are too big. In addition, Green Swan wants to focus on business in cities. ToyChamp already has seventeen stores in the Netherlands, mainly outside the Randstad.
The acquisition is completed in two steps. On Saturday the first six stores, in Breda, Hoofddorp, Middelburg, Roermond, Rotterdam and Utrecht, are already over. The store in Almere will follow next week. The shops remain closed untill they have been modified to the ToyChamp concept.
Portuguese investor bought bankrupt Intertoys
Intertoys went bankrupt at the beginning of this year. The chain was only fourteen months in the hands of the British investor Alteri, who had taken over the Dutch toy company from the shop company Blokker. After the bankruptcy, the Portuguese investor Green Swan bought the toy store chain.
Green Swan reports that it want to continue with about two hundred shops and the webshop. In addition to the 134 shops run by Intertoys themselves, around eighty franchise stores have joined. That’s more than expected, says Intertoys.
In an interview, the top man of Green Swan talked about new “freaky zones” for “parents who have remained a little child” as part of the new strategy for the stores. He also suggested ideas like arranging clowns and renting toys.
