Targeting the Next Generation of Toys 'R' Us Kids

Dec. 18, 2007— -- If you think it's crazy to take your kids to a toy store, try going with Jerry Storch. He moves at warp speed through a Toys "R" Us superstore in Elizabeth, N.J., pointing out the "hottest" toys of the season, declaring one toy "hot" and another "on fire."

Storch may sound like the chief toy tester, but he's actually a chief executive on a mission. A mission, he says, to save an American retailing icon. Storch took over as the CEO of Toys "R" Us in February 2006.

"You can't even watch a movie. I was watching a movie the other day with Bruce Willis, the latest 'Die Hard,' and he flashes his badge and the fellow asks him, 'Where'd you get that, Toys "R" Us?'"

Storch says the Toys "R" Us brand "is everywhere," and the company needs to capitalize on that sense of familiarity.

"Parents have a huge soft spot in their hearts for Toys "R" Us," he said. "It's up to us to fulfill that promise of that brand icon."

A catchy jingle, a jolly giraffe named Geoffrey and discount prices made Toys "R" Us America's toy store for a generation. But like other competitors, it became a victim of the super discounter Wal-Mart, now the largest toy seller in the country.

Parents started complaining about dirty stores, messy aisles and a lack of customer service.

"We did it to ourselves," Storch acknowledged. "It's very easy to develop a victim culture in a company just like any organization, and when I came here what I heard was, 'It is impossible to succeed because the discounters were too strong.'"

Storch showed up at Toys "R" Us after it had become clear he wasn't going to get the top job at Target. At Toys "R" Us, he found a company in trouble, but rather than shut it down, he wanted to fix it, to rebuild the brand.

Toys "R" Us operates a lab at company headquarters that is set up like a store -- part of what Storch calls "the science of retailing."

"A big part of retailing is to make it easier for the customer to find what they want and to stimulate add-on purchases when something belongs together," he explained.