The local toy retailers represented by Astra last week dismissed the efforts by mass merchants to capitalize on the Toys R Us decline. But the collapse is likely to increase the market power of Target, Walmart, Amazon and other massive retailers that don’t rely on toy sales year round and can afford to position toys as loss leaders during the holiday shopping season to drive traffic. Global investment banking firm Jeffries ahead of the holiday season last year noted that Amazon was poised to benefit from the now-bankrupt toy retailer’s struggles.
