Jerry Storch is picking up his toys and going home.
After seven years at the helm of Toys “R” Us, the 56-year-old chief executive is stepping down, the retailer said yesterday.
Storch, a respected retail exec who previously had been vice chairman at Target, will remain chairman and keep the gig until a successor is found.
The news — which all but extinguishes hopes that the firm will launch its long-delayed initial public offering this year — follows a lackluster holiday season in which sales fell 4.7 percent.
“The owners weren’t happy with the way things were going, and [Storch] wasn’t thrilled, either,” according to one person briefed on the situation.
Toys “R” Us was taken private for $6.6 billion in 2005 by buyout firms KKR and Bain Capital and Vornado, the real-estate firm.
While Storch has won praise for revamping the chain since he was hired in February 2006, the past two years have been bumpy for the toy industry overall, partly because of the growing popularity of gaming apps for tablet devices and smartphones.
The company’s owners canceled IPO plans several times in recent years, and sources said Storch lately has complained that motivating and retaining top execs has been difficult as a result.