Chairman of Troubled Toy Chain Resigns

Child World Inc.’s chairman, Dennis H. Barron, has resigned “to pursue other interests,” the majority stockholder of the troubled toy chain disclosed.

A spokesman for CNC Holding Corp., which owns 82% of the toy chain, declined to say when or why Barron left the post, but a source at Child World said the former chairman had been forced out at a CNC board meeting Monday.

Barron also gave up the position of president and chief operating officer of Cole National Corp., a Cleveland-based retail subsidiary of CNC Holding, the spokesman said.

The 182-store chain also has launched an aggressive discounting policy that threatens to dampen profits for all major sellers of toys, including Kmart Inc. and Wal-Mart Inc., during the Christmas selling season when the overwhelming majority of toy sales are made.

Child World said earlier this week that it would stop paying its bills for six weeks to be able to pay cash for shipments of new toys to replenish its inventory for Christmas.

The company also acknowledged it may be forced to file for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy laws.