Amazon launches new toy, baby stores

06.07.2006
Amazon.com Inc. has launched new toy and baby stores that feature tens of thousands of products, including hard-to-find items from specialty retailers.

The moves comes after the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court on Wednesday dealt a blow to Amazon.com Inc.'s efforts to keep in force a contract with Toys R Us Inc.

Toys R Us sued Amazon.com in 2004, alleging that the online retailer breached its contract with Toys R Us by allowing competitors to sell products on Amazon.com. Toys R Us won the case in March, prompting Amazon.com to filed a motion with the appellate court seeking a stay of the contract's termination. Although the stay was denied, Amazon.com still believes it will prevail in its appeal, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

This month, Toys R Us relaunched its online stores, www.toysrus.com and www.babiesrus.com. Amazon said its selection of toy and baby products is the largest selection ever offered through its Web site.

"We are incredibly proud of our new Toy and Baby stores," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "We've never been able to offer our customers this much selection, plus the added benefit of Amazon Prime and Free Super Saver Shipping -- we think this is a winning combination that will benefit our customers for years to come."

Amazon.com's new toy store carries a wide variety of leading brands, including, Fisher-Price, Hasbro, LeapFrog, Lego, Mattel, and VTech, according to the statement.