Amazon looking into buying Toys R Us stores following collapse

Should such a transaction materialise, then according to Bloomberg the online giant was not interested in maintaining the Toys R Us brand and was planning instead to use the space for its own purposes.

It was believed that the digital retailer wanted to use the stores to improve its physical presence on Main Street, although it was still unclear exactly how many it was interested in acquiring.

A physical presence would help the company showcase its new products, such as those based on voice interface, like Alexa, while increasing the number of warehouses would allow it to position inventory closer to shoppers, thus cutting delivery times.

Although the US and UK branches of Toys R Us were winding down after the company filed for bankruptcy in September, it's Canadian unit was still up for sale and if a buyer was found then the brand might yet continue.

Yet for now, the founder of toymaker MGA Entertainment Inc was the only known party to have submitted a bid for that business.

In any case, according to analysts at Jefferies both Amazon and Walmart were set to benefit from the shutdown of Toys R Us.

Based on their estimates, Amazon would be able to make off with 40% of the bankrupt company's sales with another 30% going to Walmart.