Sep. 15--WEST PALM BEACH -- The holiday shopping season was the furthest thing from Jennifer Garrido's mind on Tuesday as she perused the aisles with her sister at the Babies "R" Us store on Okeechobee Boulevard.

While the Lake Worth mother of two said she expects to spend less this year on gifts for her kids because of the economy, she said she hasn't even started thinking about shopping yet.

Shoppers may not be quite ready to be buying presents to put under the Christmas tree, but Toys "R" Us already has its sights set on the all-important holiday shopping season.

On Tuesday, the children's retailer announced plans to open more than 80 seasonal stores in shopping centers around the country and approximately 260 temporary toy shops within its Babies "R" Us stores.

While none of the pop-up stores will be in Palm Beach County or the Treasure Coast, all three Babies "R" Us stores in the area -- in West Palm Beach, suburban Boca Raton and Port St. Lucie -- will have the Holiday Express shops.

"It's like putting a Toys 'R' Us store in the Babies 'R' Us," said Toys "R" Us spokeswoman Katie Reczek. She said the holiday stores, which will be removed in mid-January, will triple the amount of space allotted to toys in each Babies "R" Us store.

The move is part of the company's push to add shelf space before the holidays and gain more market share in the toy retailing sector. The mall stores will be about 4,000 square feet, while the Holiday Express shops within Babies "R" Us stores will be about 2,500 square feet.

"We're aggressively expanding our toy-selling footprint to make Toys 'R' Us more accessible than ever for busy shoppers this holiday season," Jerry Storch, chairman and chief executive of Toys "R" Us Inc., said in a statement.

Indeed, it's shaping up to be another year of fierce competition for holiday toy sales.

While the $21.6 billion toy industry has done better than many other retail sectors, the average number of toys bought per household in 2008 dropped 5 percent, according to industry analyst the NPD Group.

So this year, retailers are jockeying harder than ever for market share.

For instance, Sears Holding Corp. began rolling out its Christmas merchandise online and in 372 stores nationwide in July, and it has introduced toy shops in 20 stores in four major cities.

"All these new pop-up stores are new footage for Toys 'R' Us," said trend specialist Reyne Rice of the Toy Industry Association. "They are trying to offer the brand through a variety of outlets so consumers can reach them wherever they're shopping."

The strategy seems to be a sound one to Yvonne and Bernd Kimmel, who were shopping for a stroller and shoes for their 5-month-old daughter at the West Palm Beach Babies "R" Us on Tuesday.

"From my perspective, I don't right now see what I can buy here for older kids," said Bernd Kimmel as he watched his 3-year-old son. "It would be good to be able to shop in one place to get everything we need."

To see more of The Palm Beach Post -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.palmbeachpost.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Palm Beach Post, Fla.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

<< -- 09/17/2009>>