Toy company CEO launches GoFundMe to save Toys 'R' Us

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last updated 23 March 2018

Isaac Larian is the billionaire CEO of one of the world's largest privately held toy companies, and he wants your help saving Toys 'R' Us.

Larian's company, MGA Entertainment, is behind several well-known brands, including Little Tikes. He said that along with other investors, he will pledge $200 million of the $1 billion necessary to bid on 400 Toys 'R' Us stores that are being liquidated. The rest of the money would be raised through a GoFundMe campaign, with donors receiving special items depending on how much they give. "There is nothing quite like the joy and and awe of a child walking through the aisles of a Toys 'R' Us store," he said in a statement. "I want to preserve that innocent experience for future generations. We can't sit back and just let that disappear."

Toys 'R' Us closing its stores would cause a ripple effect, Larian said, with suppliers having to lay off workers, too. MGA Entertainment depends on Toys 'R' Us — Larian said nearly 20 percent of sales were to the retailer, and it was the only store that had enough room to display Little Tikes bikes. "People do not realize the hole that can't be filled by other retailers," he said. "The pipeline is too big." Should enough money be raised, a bankruptcy judge would have to authorize the deal.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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