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Months before Santa Claus slides down the chimney, the competition among toy supermarkets will heat up with the nation's leading toy store chain opening six outlets in northeastern Ohio.
Tyos R Us, Rochelle Park, N.J., plans to open single outlets in Mentor, Parma, North Randall and Niles and two in the Akron area by September, said Michael Miller, senior vice president for real estate.
The company's arrival will put three toy supermarket chains in Greater Cleveland. Kiddie City, owned by Lionel Leisure Inc., Philadelphia, and Children's Palace, owned by Child's World Inc., Avon, Mass., are already in the market. All three chains operate supermarket-size stores that feature thousands of different items.
Besides the six outlets that Toys R Us is adding to the area, another Children's Palace is opening in Mayfield Heights, giving the chain four in Cuyahoga County. There are four Kiddie City outlets in the county.
All the competition is going to make Cleveland a tough town for toy sellers, one local merchant said. "The market will be hot. There are going to be four new...