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'{{Infobox company | name = K•B Toys | logo = Kblogo.PNG | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = The company's logo as of 2009 | logo_padding = | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = | trading_name = | native_name = | native_name_lang = <!-- Use ISO 639-1 code, e.g. "fr" for French. For multiple names in different languages, use {{lang|[code]|[name]}}. --> | romanized_name = | former_name = Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby | type = Public | traded_as = | ISIN = | industry = [[Toy store]] | genre = <!-- Only used with media and publishing companies --> | fate = [[Bankruptcy in the United States#Chapter 7: Liquidation|Bankruptcy liquidation]] | predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = --> | successor = [[Toys "R" Us]] | foundation = {{start date and age|1922}} (as Kaufman Brothers candy wholesaler)<br>[[Pittsfield, Massachusetts|Pittsfield]], [[Massachusetts]], [[United States|U.S.]] <!-- [if known: {{start date|YYYY|MM|DD}} in [city], [country] --><br>Late 2018 (revival) | founders = Harry and Joseph Kaufman (original)<ref>{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Jenn|title=Former KB Toys owner dies|url=http://www.berkshireeagle.com/headlines/ci_3119145|publisher=The Berkshire Eagle|accessdate=3 December 2014|date=15 October 2005|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306042728/http://www.berkshireeagle.com/headlines/ci_3119145|archivedate=6 March 2015|df=}}</ref><br>Ellia Kassoff (revival) | defunct = {{end date and age|2009|02|09}} (original) | location_city = [[Pittsfield, Massachusetts]] | location_country = U.S. | coordinates = | locations = 461 | num_locations_year = 2008 | area_served = | key_people = | products = Children toys and games | brands = | production = | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | aum = <!-- Only for financial-service companies --> | assets = | equity = | owner = <!-- or: | owners = --> | members = | num_employees = 10,850 | num_employees_year = 2008 | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | website = | footnotes = | intl = <!-- "true" or "yes" if company is international, otherwise omit --> | bodystyle = }} '''K·B Toys''' (also known as '''Kay Bee Toys''')<ref name="hist">{{cite web|url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/kb-toys-history|title=KB Toys History|work=FundingUniverse|accessdate=18 November 2016}}</ref> is a defunct but soon to be revived American chain of [[shopping mall|mall-based]] [[Toy store|toy retail]] in the United States. Founded in 1922, it operated, at its height, 1,200 stores across all 50 states, and went out of business in 2009. International retailer [[Toys "R" Us]] acquired the remains of K·B Toys, consisting mainly of its website, trademarks, and intellectual property rights.<ref name="toysrus">{{cite web|url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125209531190087209|title = Toys 'R' Us Buys KB Toys' Brand|last = Pereira|first = Joseph|author2=John Kell|work = [[Wall Street Journal]]|publisher = [[Dow Jones & Company]]|date = September 4, 2009|accessdate = 2016-01-09}}</ref> Strategic Marks, a company that buys and revives defunct brands, purchased the brand and intends to open new stores under the name beginning in late 2018.<ref name=CNN>{{cite web|url=http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/20/news/companies/kb-toys-toys-r-us/index.html|title=KB Toys aims to fill the void of Toys 'R' Us|first=Aaron|last=Smith|publisher=}}</ref> ==History== ===Operations=== Brothers Donald and Richard Kaufman originally opened a [[wholesale]] candy store, '''K'''aufman '''B'''rothers, in [[Pittsfield, Massachusetts]] in 1922.<ref name="hist"/><ref name=Eagle>{{cite news|last1=Vanden Berge|first1=Darren|title=Massive layoffs at KB|url=http://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/massive-layoffs-at-kb,72176|accessdate=2018-05-15|work=[[The Berkshire Eagle]]|date=2008-12-12}}</ref> During the 1940s, the brothers acquired a wholesale toy company from a candy client who owed them money for outstanding debts.<ref name="hist"/><ref name=Eagle/> In 1948, the brothers ended their involvement in the candy business to focus entirely on the toy business, which was thriving by that time. In 1973, the company ended its toy wholesaling to become a toy retailer known as Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby. The company had 26 stores at the time. In 1977, the company name changed to Kay-Bee Toy and Hobby Shops Inc. In 1981, the [[Melville Corporation]] purchased the company and renamed it Kay-Bee Toy Stores. Richard Kaufman retired that year from his position as [[company president]]. At the time, the company had 210 stores.<ref name=Eagle/> In 1982, Kay-Bee acquired [[Circus World (store)|Circus World]]'s 330 stores, as well as Toy World's 52 stores. Kay-Bee subsequently acquired K&K Toys' 133 stores in 1991. During 1993 and 1994, as part of a major [[restructuring]] plan, Kay-Bee closed approximately 250 stores that had underperformed. The company became a direct competitor to [[Toys "R" Us]] in 1994, when it expanded its mall locations and began opening stores known as KB Toy Works. In 1996, Kay-Bee had sales of $1.1 billion, and was sold that year to [[Big Lots|Consolidated Stores Corporation]] at a cost of $300 million. Company sales reached $1.6 billion in 1998, the same year that its merchandise website was launched. The store logo was also changed to "KB" that year.<ref name=Eagle/> In December 2000, [[Bain Capital]] purchased the company for $305 million.<ref>{{cite news|title=Company News; Bain Capital Buys Toys Unit of Consolidated Stores|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/09/business/company-news-bain-capital-buys-toys-unit-of-consolidated-stores.html|accessdate=2018-05-15|work=The New York Times|date=2000-12-09}}</ref> Starting in 2001, KB Toys opened temporary "stores within a store" at select [[Sears]] department stores during the Christmas season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2001/sep/20/business/fi-47678|title=Sears to Open Test Sites With KB Toys|work=latimes|accessdate=18 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/515037163/KB-Toys-in-Sears-for-holidays.html?pg=all|title=KB Toys in Sears for holidays|date=8 October 2003|work=DeseretNews.com|accessdate=18 November 2015}}</ref> In January 2004, the company filed for bankruptcy protection and closed more than 600 stores, resulting in the layoffs of more than 3,400 employees. The company exited [[Chapter 11]] bankruptcy in September 2005, with 90 percent of its ownership under Prentice Capital Management. In August 2007, the company announced a business strategy that included layoffs at its headquarters in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. That November, the company had 566 stores and began closing 122 of them.<ref name=Eagle/> The company used the slogans "America's Toy Store," "Hot We Got, at KB,"{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} and "The Toy Store in the Mall."<ref name=Repub/> At the time of its liquidation, KB Toys operated three distinct store formats:<ref name=Eagle/> KB Toys, KB Toy Works (the result of a merger between KB Toys and The Toy Works), and KB Toys Outlet (aka Toy Liquidators). KB Toys stores were mostly found in the company's traditional base of shopping malls, where many of its stores were located for years. KB Toy Works stores were typically found in outdoor strip malls. KB Toys Outlet and Toy Liquidators stores, as the name implies, were usually found in outlet centers/malls.{{fact|date=July 2017}} ===Liquidation=== The company filed for bankruptcy on December 11, 2008,<ref name=Eagle/> and the chain began going-out-of-business sales that month.<ref name=WSJ/><ref name=Sales/> At the time, the company had 10,850 employees, including approximately 6,500 seasonal workers.<ref name=Eagle/> The company had 277 mall locations, 114 KB Toy Outlet stores, 40 KB Toy Works stores, and 30 KB Toys Holiday stores, for a total of 461, down from its peak of 1,200 stores.<ref name=Eagle/><ref name=Sales>{{cite news|title=KB Toys starts going-out-of-business sale|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2008/12/22/daily9.html|accessdate=2018-05-15|work=BizJournals.com|date=2008-12-22}}</ref> It was the largest mall-based toy retailer in the United States at the time, operating in 44 states, as well as [[Guam]] and [[Puerto Rico]].<ref name=Eagle/> It was also the second-oldest operating toy retailer in [[North America]] (behind [[FAO Schwarz]]) before its demise.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} The store-closing sales (as well as the termination of the company's website) were concluded on February 9, 2009.<ref name=WSJ>{{cite web|url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122901585422798605?mod=googlenews_wsj|title = KB Toys Faces Liquidation|last = Brickley|first = Peg|work = [[Wall Street Journal]]|publisher = [[Dow Jones & Company]]|date = December 11, 2008|accessdate = 2010-01-09}}</ref> The K·B Toys brand and related intangible assets were sold by Streambank LLC to Toys "R" Us on September 4, 2009, for a reported $2.1 million. Because K·B Toys's stores had been closed and liquidated, the sale applied mainly to the company's logo, website, trademarks, and other intellectual properties. Toys "R" Us was initially unsure of how to integrate the K·B name into its business plan.<ref name="toysrus" /> Toys "R" Us has used the K·B Toys name on self-manufactured toys under the name "KB Classics" with the K·B Toys logo. ===Revival=== In 2016, Strategic Marks LLC registered a trademark for KB Toys, after Toys "R" Us allowed the previous registration to lapse.<ref name=Repub>{{cite news|title=With Toys 'R' Us on its deathbed, once Pittsfield-based KB Toys poised for resurrection|newspaper=The Republican|location=Springfield, MA|first=Jim|last=Kinney|date=March 20, 2018|url=http://www.masslive.com/business-news/index.ssf/2018/03/kb_toys.html|accessdate=2018-03-20}}</ref> Founder Ellia Kassoff stated that due to Toys "R" Us going out of business (in the United States only), they plan to have 1,000 [[Pop-up retail|pop-up]] stores up and running before Christmas 2018.<ref name=CNN/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/were-going-save-toy-industry-ellia-kassoff|title = We're going to save the toy industry!|last = Kassoff|first = Ellia|work = [[LinkedIn]]|publisher = LinkedIn|date = March 16, 2018|accessdate = 2018-03-19}}</ref> After the holiday season, Kassoff will decide which stores will then become permanent.<ref name=CNN/> ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [http://bankrupt.com/misc/KBToys.PanelComplaint.pdf Exhibit A Delaware Bankruptcy Court Chapter 11 Document] * "[http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2005/08/29/daily11.html KB Toys emerges from bankruptcy, names Toys 'R' Us exec as CEO]", BizJournals.com * "[https://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2004-01-14-kb-bankruptcy_x.htm KB Toys files for Chapter 11 after cutthroat holiday season]", usatoday.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kb Toys}} [[Category:Defunct retail companies of the United States]] [[Category:Toy companies of the United States]] [[Category:Privately held companies based in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Retail companies established in 1922]] [[Category:Retail companies disestablished in 2009]] [[Category:Retail companies established in 2018]] [[Category:Companies that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] [[Category:Defunct companies based in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Toy retailers]] [[Category:Toys "R" Us]] [[Category:Re-established companies]] [[Category:1922 establishments in Massachusetts]] [[Category:2009 disestablishments in Massachusetts]]'