Toys "R" Us CEO on hottest holiday toys, the gender debate and a future IPO

The National Retail Federation is expecting a banner holiday shopping season. Its data suggests that consumers will spend $630.5 billion in November and December (excluding autos, gas, and restaurants). If such a retailer's wish came true, that would be a 3.7% increase year-over-year, significantly larger than the 2.5% growth averaged over the last decade, though not quite as “merry” as last year’s 4.1% uptick.

One man hoping for the best possible growth number is Dave Brandon, the newly minted CEO of Toys “R” Us. The private retailer has 1,800 stores in 38 countries.

“This is one of the most seasonal businesses I have ever experienced,” Brandon told Yahoo Finance. “It’s requiring of us to do months of business within a compressed several-week period of time. It puts a stress on your team members and your stores. It puts a stress on your supply chain; it puts a stress on your Web and digital platforms because so much volume is being pushed through so quickly. So it’s really a time when you have to execute at a very high level.”

So what does Brandon expect to be selling when those doors open Thanksgiving Day? The company has released its annual “Fabulous 15” list of the hottest toys.

The theme for many kids' toys is the same as for grown-up gadgets: connectivity. “We have cloud-based toys,” Brandon notes. “We have toys that teach children how to count their ABCs; we have toys that have voice activation and voice recognition … The battery companies will be really pleased.”

But despite the company’s best efforts, Brandon warns that this, as with any year, will see demand outpacing supply on some toys.

One growing toy trend of late has been the removal of gender-specific labels in stores and on websites. The UK Toys “R” Us site just removed “boys” and “girls” categories. Brandon says categories “give the consumer an opportunity that if they want to look at more boy- or girl-oriented toys that [a] filter can be used. However, we at Toys 'R' Us ... don’t classify toys by gender. It’s not how a lot of people shop, and you can’t predict who enjoys what, who wants to buy what.”

IPO on the way? Finally we asked Brandon about the potential for a Toys “R” Us IPO. The company was publicly traded from 1978 until 2005, when a private equity group comprised of “affiliates of Bain Capital Partners LLC, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), and Vornado Realty Trust” purchased the company and took it private. Brandon notes, “Private equity firms don’t buy companies to operate them forever … It’s certainly one of the liquidation events that could be out there for the current owners, and an IPO would probably be the most logical thing for a $12 billion company like Toys 'R' Us.” For now, however, he is concerned with continuing to improve the business in order to increase the company’s value ahead of whatever liquidation plan its owners may be contemplating.