Irish retailer Smyths Toys Superstores is planting a flag in France.
The company which operates stores across Ireland, the UK, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria has acquired 41 stores from PicWicToys in France. The move comes under receivership (bankruptcy) proceedings that began on May 23 via the Commercial Court of Lille.
Following the bankruptcy of Toys “R” Us in 2018, Jellej Jouets and Luderix International merged to create PicWicToys in 2019 uniting 20 existing PicWic stores with 43 French Toys “R” Us stores under the same branding. Pandemic-related issues and other challenges led to a reorganization effort and streamlining of the store base that failed to right the ship.
Smyths previously took over former Toys “R” Us stores in Germany and Austria and rebranded them as Smyths Toys Superstores.
As part of its takeover of PicWicToys, Smyths has pledged approximately $51 million to carry the business through the upcoming holiday season.
A handful of PicWicToys locations were not acquired by Smyths and will close in the near future. PicWicToys is owned in part by New York-based Cyrus Capital Partners.
