Toy R Us will sell or close its stores in the U.S. and four other countries, ending a decades-long run as the world’s top toy retailer.

CEO Dave Brandon, who unveiled plans last fall for revamping stores as part of a bankruptcy reorganization plan, told employees Wednesday the chain’s more than 700 stores in the U.S. would close along with those in Spain, France, Poland and Australia, the Wall Street Journal reported. A Toys R Us spokesman confirmed the report to us. It’s also been reported to be in discussions to sell its 85 percent stake in its Asian joint venture to its partner,  Hong Kong’s Fung brothers.

The chain’s 100 stores in the UK also are being liquidated, but the company is trying to find a buyer for those in Canada along with some U.S. locations.

MGA Entertainment CEO Isaac Larian, whose company was listed in the U.S. bankruptcy filing as being owed $21 million, urged industry executives in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday to try to salvage some of the chain (Inside Licensing March 14). A group of toymakers led by MGA submitted a bid Wednesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Richmond, VA, to buy 82 stores in Canada, Larian told the Washington Post. It also is seeking to operate upwards of 400 U.S. locations under the Toy R Us banner, he said.

TRU, struggling with more than $5 billion in debt from a leveraged buyout in 2005 and squeezed as online retailers garnered an ever-larger share of the toy business, filed for bankruptcy protection last September.