“It’s a tough game to play now,” said Paul Swinand, a retail analyst for Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. “They are getting pinched on all sides” with discounters like Wal-Mart offering cheaper prices and Amazon’s selection and service, he said.

In 2006, the company hired Storch after he left Target, where he was vice chairman. He improved profitability by closing stores, selling others and cutting thousands of jobs. He increased sales by revamping merchandise and taking a page from Target by offering more exclusive items. That year, same-store sales gained for the first time in six years and profit surged 40 percent in the fourth quarter.

Since deciding not to go public in 2010, Toys “R” Us has tried a variety of tactics to remain relevant, from opening pop- up stores to price-matching to lay-away programs. None of it stopped the decline in same-store sales. The company has said slowing sales of video games is largely responsible.

Asked whether he could consider buying a public Toys “R” Us, Bertelsen said he “wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole.”

Guitar Center

Bain’s other retail investments have uncertain futures, too. Burlington Coat Factory and Guitar Center, both of which the firm purchased on its own, are losing money. Burlington, acquired for $1.9 billion in 2006, did increase sales 6.8 percent to $1.32 billion in the quarter ended Feb. 2. Guitar Center, bought in 2007 for $2.1 billion, posted a gain in revenue of 1.6 percent to $496.2 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30.

Michaels Stores, which Bain bought with Blackstone Group LP in 2006 in a deal valued at $5.5 billion may be in the best shape of the four. The world’s largest arts-and-crafts retailer filed to raise $500 million in an initial public offering in March 2012. In the fiscal year ended Feb. 2, sales rose 4.7 percent to $4.4 billion and net income gained 22 percent to $214 million. The company named Chuck Rubin as CEO last month. He left the CEO job at Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc.

Off Table

For now, Toys “R” Us has enough liquidity to keep operating, but an IPO is off the table with Storch leaving and its lack of growth, said Kim Noland, a credit analyst with Gimme Credit LLC in New York.

“They aren’t on a cliff, this is no Blockbuster,” she said, referring to the movie-rental chain that went bankrupt in 2011 and now is a unit of Dish Network Corp.. “It’s not like something bad is going to happen immediate here. It’s just kind of a long, tired slog.”

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