Toys’r’us: Financial Performance for 2008

BRANDORA Editorial Staff - April 2009


  • Net sales: 13.724 billion or –0.5%;
  • Net earnings: 218 million;
  • Number of stores (domestic): 846;
  • Number of stores (international): 713.

Net sales decreased by $70 million, or 0.5%, to $13,724 million in fiscal 2008 from $13,794 million in fiscal 2007.

Domestic

Net sales for the Domestic segment increased by $30 million, or 0.4%, to $8,480 million in fiscal 2008 from $8,450 million for fiscal 2007. The increase in Net sales was primarily a result of new wholly-owned stores, partially offset by a decrease in comparable store net sales of 0.1%. The comparable store net sales decrease in fiscal 2008 was primarily a result of lower sales in core toy, learning and seasonal categories, which were all affected by the overall slowdown in the economy. Core toys and learning also experienced declines in sales of mature product lines as well as poor performance of certain new product releases. These decreases were partially offset by increases in the entertainment category as a result of strong demand for video game consoles, new video game software releases and related accessories, such as the successful launch of Nintendo Wii Fit.

International

Net sales for the International segment decreased by $100 million, or 1.9%, to $5,244 million for fiscal 2008, compared to $5,344 million for fiscal 2007.
The comparable store net sales decrease in fiscal 2008 was primarily impacted by decreases in entertainment, core toy and seasonal categories, which seem to be affected by the slowdown in global economy. Entertainment decreased primarily due to strong prior year sales of video game hardware related to Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS Lite and Sony Playstation 3. Core toys decreased primarily due to strong prior year sales of licensed products. Sales of seasonal products decreased primarily due to a decrease in sales of outdoor products. Partially offsetting these decreases were increased sales in the juvenile category from the conversion of certain stores to the side-by-side store format along with increased square footage devoted to juvenile products in traditional Toys’R’Us toy stores.

Percentage of Net Sales by Product Category

  • Juvenile 32.1% (+0.5)
  • Learning 20.0% (–0.3%)
  • Entertainment 18.0% (+0.6%)
  • Core Toy 16.0% (–0.6%)
  • Seasonal 12.8% (–0.1%)
  • Other 1.1% (–0.1%)