Shoppers browse the Toys ‘R’ Us store at the Ohio Valley Mall in St. Clairsville Wednesday. The retailer reportedly has told employees it plans to liquidate all of its U.S. stores. Photo by Miranda Sebroski

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The place “where a kid can be a kid” at the Ohio Valley Mall may soon be gone, as reports indicate the management of Toys ‘R’ Us has told its employees it will sell or close all of its U.S. stores.

The retailer opened the St. Clairsville store in 1986, a time when the original Super Mario Brothers video game, Transformers, G.I.-Joe figures, She-Ra dolls and Cabbage Patch Kids were among the most popular items.

On Wednesday, Ohio Valley Mall Manager George Diab said he had not been notified of any plans to close to the store. Store associates and managers at the St. Clairsville location declined to comment on the matter.

According to the Associated Press, Jim Silver, a New York-based long-time toy industry expert, said Toys ‘R’ Us CEO David Brandon told employees the company’s plan is to liquidate all of its U.S. stores. After that, it could do a deal with its Canadian operation to run some of the U.S. stores. The CEO also told employees that the chain was also likely to liquidate its operations in France, Spain, Poland and Australia, according to Silver.

CNN Money reported there are some buyers who have taken an interest in purchasing the entire chain, but no formal bids to purchase the company have been made.

Published reports state that many employees are seeking jobs elsewhere. On Wednesday, the company reportedly laid off 67 people at the Toys ‘R’ Us headquarters.

The chain, known for its “I’m a Toys R Us kid” jingle and Geoffrey the giraffe mascot, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last fall, saddled with $5 billion in debt that hurt its attempts to compete as shoppers moved to Amazon and huge chains like Walmart.

All of the chain’s stores in the United Kingdom are closing their doors within the next six weeks. The chain has closed 25 stores in the UK, and the company reportedly announced its remaining 75 stores in that country would remain open while being scheduled by executives for closure.

Toys R Us struggled with debt since private-equity firms Bain Capital, KKR & Co. and Vornado Realty Trust took it private in a $6.6 billion leveraged buyout in 2005. The plan had been to take the company public again, but weak sales have prevented that from happening. With such debt levels, Toys R Us did not have the financial flexibility to invest in its business. The company closed its flagship store in Manhattan’s Times Square, a huge tourist destination that featured its own Ferris wheel, about two years ago.

In filing for bankruptcy protection last fall, Toys R Us pledged to make its stores more interactive. It added demonstrators for the holiday season to show people how toys work, and began opening Play Labs at 42 stores, areas where children can play with different items.

“Consumers like going to free-standing toy stores,” Silver said. “It was a fun place to visit your child. Toy stores can be a lot of fun — if it is the right experience.”

The company’s troubles have affected toy makers Mattel and Hasbro, which are big suppliers to the chain. But the likely liquidation will have a bigger impact on smaller toy makers, who rely more on the chain for sales. However, many have been trying to diversify in recent months as they worried about the chain’s survival.

The company didn’t do enough to emphasize that it was reorganizing but not going out of business, Silver said. That misperception led customers to its stores because they didn’t think they would be able to return gifts.

Now, the $11 billion in sales still happening at Toys R Us each year will disperse to other retailers like Amazon and discounters, analysts say. Other chains, seeing that Toys R Us was vulnerable, got more aggressive. J.C. Penney opened toy sections last fall in all 875 stores. Target and Walmart have been expanding their toy selections.

“Amazon may pick up the dollars, but won’t deliver the experience needed for a toy retailer to survive and thrive in today’s market,” said Marc Rosenberg, a toy marketing executive.

Toys R Us had dominated the toy store business in the 1980s and early 1990s, when it was one of the first of the “category killers”– a store totally devoted to one thing. Its scale gave it leverage with toy sellers and it disrupted general merchandise stores and mom-and-pop shops. Children sang along with commercials about “the biggest toy store there is.”

But the company lost ground to discounters like Target and Walmart, and then to Amazon, as even nostalgic parents sought deals elsewhere. GlobalData Retail estimates that nearly 14 percent of toy sales were made online in 2016, more than double the level five years ago.

Harold Chizick, whose public relations firm represents small toy companies, said that once Toys R Us’s operations are liquidated and the debt load goes away, the name could be revived.

The Wayne, N.J.-based toy retailer, has 30,000 U.S. employees.