Shrewsbury Toys R Us store sold as part of £30.5 million deal

The store, on Meole Brace Retail Park, has been closed a couple of months after the retail giant went into administration in February.

Asset and property management company FI Real Estate Management was appointed to manage the store.

It has now announced the sale of six former Toys R Us properties – including the Shrewsbury store – in a series of deals worth £30.5 million.

The properties, which form part of the Duke Portfolio, are also located in Cardiff, Liverpool, Plymouth, Woking and York. They total 222,319 sq ft of retail space and have been sold to a variety of buyers.

An undisclosed retailer has purchased three properties in Shrewsbury, Liverpool and York, adding an additional 91,188 sq ft to its portfolio of stores.

Richard Sheehan, chief executive of Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "It is great news. The fact that it has been sold so quickly demonstrates how attractive the county is to businesses looking to come to the county."

A spokesman for FI Real Estate Management said: “We recognised the appeal of a selection of properties within the Duke portfolio to successful out of town retail operators and as prime development opportunities.

"The six properties sold to date reflect the healthy appetite for prime sites and demonstrates our ability to unlock asset value by ensuring we utilise an intelligent and appropriate commercial approach. We are also in the final stages of securing a further four sales and are in negotiations to split many of the units to let to strong retail brands.”

FI Real Estate Management has worked in conjunction with integrated loan servicing and advisory firm, Solutus and was appointed in March to provide full asset, property and facilities management services to the 31 assets, which comprised the freehold and long leasehold portfolio of the former Toys R Us estate.

Toys R Us appointed Moorfields to handle the administration when the company was unable to pay a £15 million tax bill.

After failing to find a buyer for the business, Moorfields said in March that it would be necessary to close all of Toys R Us's 106 stores, and immediately made 67 staff at the chain's Maidenhead head office redundant.

Toys R Us was one of the most high-profile retail casualties in the first quarter of the year.

Electronics retailer Maplin went into administration on the same day, putting a further 2,500 retail jobs in doubt.

Meanwhile, New Look and Carpetright have both announced plans to shut stores as part of restructuring plans.

High street retailers such as Toys R Us have been battling against a combination of rising costs and a fall in consumer confidence.

Many retailers have also struggled to keep up with the rise of online retailing and a change in shopping habits.