Toys 'R' Us Inc. plans an online and bricks-and-mortar push in China, its top executive said, in a bet that a growing middle class will see play time as increasingly essential.

To ply a market where many parents would sooner buy their children books than Barbies, the retailer is stocking up on toy microscopes, building blocks and other educational toys to win Chinese parents over.

The Wayne, N.J., company is launching online sales in China this week and plans to double its stores from a current 30 in the next few years, said Chief Executive Jerry Storch in an interview. He declined to give a time frame for the store expansion.

'There's a huge opportunity waiting in China and we have to be part of it,' Mr. Storch said.

China's increasingly affluent consumers are making sure their children have plenty to play with. Sales growth in the toy market there rose 18% to nearly 54 billion yuan ($8.58 billion) in 2011, up from a year earlier, according to market research company Euromonitor International.

Still, some toy companies have struggled in China, where parents bury their children in school books early and where 'play is a four-letter word,' said Torsten Stocker, an analyst with consulting firm Monitor Group.

Mattel Inc. (MAT) closed its Shanghai-based flagship Barbie store in March last year, after misjudging the potentialpopularity of its dolls. Mattel said it is reformatting its strategy to sell more learning-focused toys.

Toys 'R' Us executives say they will emphasizeeducational toys in an effort to win over the fiercest of strict 'tiger mothers.' About 35% of sales in existing stores in China are tied to education, compared with 21% in the U.S., Mr. Storch said.

'We've been learning from other retailers--successful and unsuccessful--and we have a strong plan in place,' said Mr. Storch, noting that Toys 'R' Us is also localizing its merchandise, carrying toys and brands targeted to Chinese consumers, such as the TV and movie characters Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf.

Some big-box retailers have recently closed stores in China after importing alien strategies that weren't in line with what Chinese consumers wanted. Home Depot Inc. (HD) in September closed its seven big-box stores in the country. Tesco PLC (TSCDY, TSCO.LN) shut four of its stores in China this year.

Mr. Storch said Toys 'R' Us is adapting to local culture. It plans to open smaller stories of about 10,000 square feet-about a quarter of the size of many of its U.S. stores--that will fit in shopping malls, which are popular with Chinese spenders.

The company is also opening 'express' stores of 5,000 square feet and putting outlets of its baby clothing and furnishings store Babies 'R' Us next to them. In the U.S., Toys 'R' Us has been opening the two stores side by side, which has led to sales gains, Mr. Storch said. He declined to break out the number of Babies 'R' Us shops the company plans to open, but said he believes there is an opportunity to increase the youth side of the business.

China's baby market has been a cash cow for many companies, as new mothers--most of whom have only been allowed to have one child due to China's population controls--have been willing to dote on their babies, buying expensive clothing and other baby accessories.

The U.S. toy business has been under stress in recent years. U.S. toy sales fell 2% last year to $21.2 billion, a decline that the industry attributed to the weak economic recovery, a dearth of 'must have' toys and children's increasing preference for digital playthings.

Toys 'R' Us has logged two years of profit declines while its annual sales of roughly $14 billion have remained relatively flat. Its earnings have been pressured by declines in the global videogame business and Europe's weak economy.

The company aims to increase its market share in a stagnant U.S. market through products such as a private-brand electronic tablet geared to children 6 years old and younger. It also created a service where parents can download children's videos. Toys 'R' Us is considering launching the tablet in China but the company isn't making any concrete announcements yet, Mr. Storch said.

Mr. Storch said Toys 'R' Us is revving up its advertising to improve consumer awareness in China. The company currently advertises on 10 Chinese satellite and local children's stations and is also running ads online, through video sites such as Tudou.com.

Laurie Burkitt / Ann Zimmerman

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• stocking [´stɔkiŋ]   n.长统袜   (初中英语单词)
• interview [´intəvju:]   n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈   (初中英语单词)
• waiting [´weitiŋ]   n.等候；伺候   (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ]   n.&vi.调查；探究；研究   (初中英语单词)
• monitor [´mɔnitə]   n.班长 v.监控；检查   (初中英语单词)
• learning [´lə:niŋ]   n.学习；学问；知识   (初中英语单词)
• culture [´kʌltʃə]   n.修养；文化；饲养   (初中英语单词)
• opening [´əupəniŋ]   n.开放；开端 a.开始的   (初中英语单词)
• willing [´wiliŋ]   a.情愿的，乐意的   (初中英语单词)
• expensive [ik´spensiv]   a.费钱的，昂贵的   (初中英语单词)
• stress [stres]   n.强调；压力 vt.强调   (初中英语单词)
• annual [´ænjuəl]   a.每年的 n.年刊   (初中英语单词)
• advertising [´ædvətaiziŋ]   n.广告a.广告的   (初中英语单词)
• running [´rʌniŋ]   a.奔跑的；流动的   (初中英语单词)
• educational [,edju´keiʃənəl]   a.教育(上)的   (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən]   num.万亿   (高中英语单词)
• potential [pə´tenʃəl]   n.&a.潜在的；可能的   (高中英语单词)
• popularity [,pɔpju´læriti]   n.普及；流行；名望   (高中英语单词)
• emphasize [´emfəsaiz]   vt.强调   (高中英语单词)
• strict [strikt]   a.严厉的；精确的   (高中英语单词)
• merchandise [´mə:tʃəndaiz]   n.商品 v.经商   (高中英语单词)
• recovery [ri´kʌvəri]   n.重获；获得；恢复   (高中英语单词)
• preference [´prefərəns]   n.优先选择；偏爱(物)   (高中英语单词)
• roughly [´rʌfli]   ad.粗糙地；毛糙地   (高中英语单词)
• relatively [´relətivli]   ad.比较地；相对地   (高中英语单词)
• tablet [´tæblit]   n.碑；牌；匾额   (高中英语单词)
• concrete [´kɔŋkri:t]   a.具体的 n.混凝土   (高中英语单词)
• consumer [kən´sju:mə]   n.消费者；用户   (高中英语单词)
• increasingly [in´kri:siŋli]   ad.日益，愈加   (英语四级单词)
• considering [kən´sidəriŋ]   prep.就...而论   (英语四级单词)
• strategy [´strætidʒi]   n.兵法；战略   (英语六级单词)
• dearth [də:θ]   n.缺少，缺乏；饥荒   (英语六级单词)
• earnings [´ə:niŋz]   n.收益；报酬；获得   (英语六级单词)
• stagnant [´stægnənt]   a.停滞的；萧条的   (英语六级单词)
• satellite [´sætəlait]   n.(人造)卫星；随从   (英语六级单词)