20 regional stores under threat as two major retailers enter administration

Twenty stores across the West Midlands are at risk of closure after two major retailers collapsed into administration.

Rescue talks at both Toys R Us and Maplin have failed, although both businesses will continue to trade for the immediate future.

Maplin has 11 stores across the region – including four in Birmingham alone (one in the city centre itself).

The others are in Merry Hill, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Kidderminster, Cannock, Solihull and Redditch.

Toys R Us has nine stores in the region – Oldbury, Merry, Birmingham (St Andrew’s Retail Park, Stechford), Solihull, Tamworth, Stafford, Coventry, Shrewsbury and Stoke-on-Trent.

The Stechford store had already been earmarked for closure in the spring as part of a cost-cutting move announced by the company before Christmas.

Toys R Us employs 3,000 people across 105 stores and Maplin has more than 200 stores and 2,500 staff.

Toys R Us joint administrator Simon Thomas said: “Whilst this process is likely to affect many Toys R Us staff, whether some or all of the stores will close remains to be decided.”

Its larger, warehouse-style stores have struggled in recent years although its smaller stores have performed more strongly.