Toy Galaxy closes shops – Toy World Journal | The enterprise journal with a ardour for toysToy World Journal

The proprietor of the Toy Galaxy chain despatched a letter to employees final week confirming the closure of its shops as a result of monetary pressures.

The toy retailer operated a number of branches, the most recent of which was its Watford retailer within the Atria procuring centre. Different areas included Barnet, Ealing, Hatfield and Witney.

Within the letter to employees, proprietor Bhav Patel apologised to his crew, and defined that the closure was sadly “as a result of monetary pressures”. The letter added that directors from Edge Restoration would take over the corporate’s affairs and excellent pay would sometimes be paid inside 3-6 weeks.

He wrote: “A number of elements have led us up to now, together with a big inside theft that value the enterprise over £120,000, provide points as a result of diminished and ultimately eliminated credit score insurance coverage, and sudden well being issues that compelled me to take intermittent spells away from the enterprise.”

Based on the letter, different elements contrubuting to the choice to nominate directors incuded the decline in gross sales throughout the retail sector, rising prices of hire, enterprise charges, electrical energy and staffing, which had “all contributed to our monetary difficulties.”

The letter to workers final week is reported to have come as a shock, and a few Toy Galaxy employees say they’re owed wages, in response to the Oxford Mail.

In a current Speaking Store interview with Toy World, the corporate mentioned: “It has been a difficult yr, as everyone knows, making it troublesome to establish a constant procuring development. Some weekends are very busy, and we surpass our targets, however on others the shop may be very quiet, and gross sales are down. It’s an unpredictable time.”

Within the letter to employees, Bhav added: “Having spent the previous 20 years constructing Toy Galaxy, it’s devastating for me to see the present state of the corporate. In my effort to maintain the enterprise alive, I exhausted all sources, risking the safety of my household and our dwelling.

“I take full duty for this example and deeply remorse that we discover ourselves right here. I sincerely thanks in your dedication, exhausting work, and loyalty.”