Toys "R" Us Canada: Is Playtime Over?

Steven Campbell; Kelly Whitehead

Product #:9B18M167

Supplier:Ivey

Discipline:Strategy

Setting:Canada, 2018

Details:Case (PDF) • 8 pages • 2018-11-06 (Rev: 2019-06-17)

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In June 2018, Toys "R" Us, Inc. officially closed its doors in the United States and left the US retail landscape, marking the demise of the former "category killer." Although Toys "R" Us (Canada) Ltd. had survived eight months of bankruptcy protection, it found itself fighting two concurrent battles: clarifying the confusion regarding its lack of inclusion in the closure of the 735 US locations, and addressing the desperate need to rebrand in a changing retail landscape that continually placed more value on digital operations and sleek, experiential store designs. How should Toys "R" Us (Canada) Ltd. position itself to address the growing online threat and prevent itself from following in the footsteps of its American counterpart?

Learning Objectives

This case has been designed for use at both the undergraduate and the graduate levels, and is suitable for introductory strategic management or retail management courses. Working through the case will give students the opportunity to:

analyze the positioning of a retail company in a changing marketplace;
assess the internal positioning of a retail company through the resource-based view of the firm and a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis;
assess the external positioning of a retail company through Porter's Five Forces and the Value Net model;
evaluate consumers' perceived value of a company's long-term plans by referring to the retail management literature; and
address a company's positioning from a marketing perspective.

Toys "R" Us Canada: Is Playtime Over?

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Learning Objectives