Mastermind Toys plans to shutter 18 stores across Canada amid financial struggles, but Guelph's Stone Road location is not among them.
The Toronto-based specialty toy and children’s book retailer filed for creditor protection after facing financial challenges “too significant to overcome,” citing the pandemic, increased competition and decreased sales, The Canadian Press reports.
Creditor protection would allow them to restructure the company in hopes of helping the business overcome those challenges. Part of these proceedings involve liquidating and closing some under-performing stores while exploring alternatives for the business with a buyer.
This week, the company reached a deal to sell the bulk of the business to Unity Acquisitions Inc. The financial terms of that deal, expected to close in January, have not yet been disclosed.
Owners Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc. began trying to sell the company in April, owing $22.2 million to vendors and $25.7 million to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Without the sale, Mastermind owners had said it would have to liquidate all 66 retail locations, rather than closing just 18.
Of the 18 locations closing, nine of them are in Ontario. The nearest store to close is on Hespeler Road in Cambridge.
