[whatnext]

This Putnam group sounds like quite the shrewd operators.

Multiple Toys “R” Us locations closing, landlords say they are owed unpaid rent
Susan Krashinsky Robertson Retailing reporter
Published Yesterday

Signs of financial distress are mounting at Toys “R” Us Canada, with multiple locations closing in recent weeks and landlords saying they are owed unpaid rent.

The latest closings add to a contraction that has shrunk the toy chain by more than half in less than five years: In 2021, when family-owned Putman Investments Inc. bought Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us Canada from Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., the chain had 81 locations across the country. Currently, the website lists 40 stores, but several of those links lead to blank web pages with no address or store information, and lists cities such as Calgary, Langley, B.C., Guelph, Ont., and the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, where locations have recently shut their doors...

....Fairfax sold the chain to Putman Investments for an undisclosed sum. Run by Doug Putman, whose parents founded the toy distributor Everest Toys in the 1990s, the firm has invested in several retailers over the years. Those include Sunrise Records, HMV stores in Canada and Britain, FYE entertainment stores in the United States and women’s clothing retailer Northern Reflections Ltd....

... Some of those investments have also contracted. Northern Reflections had 134 locations when Putman acquired the chain a year ago; the website now lists 30 stores.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Putman acquired 45 leases for stores vacated by beverage chain DavidsTea, announcing plans to launch a competing chain called T. Kettle. The T. Kettle website currently does not list any locations.

In 2023, Mr. Putman acquired leases for 21 former Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy BABY locations, announcing he would open a home goods chain called rooms + spaces. Many of those stores began closing within months....

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busi...g-unpaid-rent/