Retail giants Toys R Us are to close a number of UK stores after filing for bankruptcy in the US.
The superstore will be shutting 26 branches in the UK after the announcement was made in August.
Around 800 jobs could go as the company says its warehouse-style stores are “too expensive” to run, with the company facing a £3.6bn debt in the US and Canada.
The firm, which has a store at Birstall Retail Park, will remain open for business throughout the Christmas period. The 26 stores, which have not been identified, will be shut in Spring 2018.
Steve Knights, of Toys R Us UK, said: “Like many UK retailers in today’s market environment, we need to transform our business so that we have a platform that can better meet customers’ evolving needs.
“Our newer, smaller, more interactive stores are in the right shopping locations and are trading well, while our new website has generated significant growth in online and click-and-collect sales.
“But the warehouse style stores we opened in the 1980s and 1990s, while successful in the early days, are too big and expensive to run in the current retail environment. The business has been loss making in recent years and so we need to take strong and decisive action to accelerate the transformation.”
The store opened a temporary pop-up shop in the Kingsgate shopping centre in Huddersfield last Christmas.
