TORONTO – When Toys “R” Us Canada announced it was selling its branding to a U.S. firm in June, consumers might have imagined the extent of the deal was a new owner for the retailer’s name and home for Geoffrey the giraffe.
But something else was moving alongside the branding: consumer data.
Customers were told over the summer and fall that the purchaser — an affiliate of Ad Populum, the owner of Party City and the firm managing the Chia Pet brand and Elvis Presley attraction Graceland — was being given access to their names, contact and account information, transaction histories and communications with Toys “R” Us Canada.
