On the record · Other
KB Toys
Toy retailer sold to KB Acquisition Corporation, a Bain Capital affiliate, in December 2000. An affiliate of Prentice Capital Management acquired majority ownership as the business emerged from bankruptcy on August 30, 2005. The reorganized business filed Chapter 11 on December 11, 2008.
Research depth
Outcomes researched
Reviewed operating findings or a classified operating outcome are available.
Record updated Oct. 11, 2026
Current ownership
Current owner not established
This record does not identify a current owner. That absence is a gap in the record, not a conclusion about ownership.
Ownership and transaction history
Chronology from recorded ownership periods, transactions and reviewed outcome events. Event order does not imply causation.
Feb. 9, 2009
Operations ceased
Operating outcome
What happened under and after ownership
Operating outcome
No longer meaningfully operating
Filed its second Chapter 11 on December 11, 2008, under owner Prentice Capital Management and liquidated all remaining stores, with going-out-of-business sales completed by February 9, 2009.
Strategic Marks bought the brand in 2016 and announced pop-up revivals that never opened; the trademark lapsed in 2020 and no KB Toys store operates.
- Founded
- 1922
- Peak headcount
- 10,850
- Sponsor at closure
- Prentice Capital Management
- Cause
- Dividend recapitalization · with debt left at exit
- Wikipedia · founding history; Bain Capital's $305 million 2000 buyout; 2002 dividend recapitalization; Prentice Capital's 90% ownership from the 2005 bankruptcy emergence;
- PolitiFact · 2012 · Bain Capital's 2000 buyout and 2002 dividend recapitalization that added debt to the company
Sources and evidence
Other recorded sources
Public provenance attached to an entity, ownership or bankruptcy record.
- R1Big Lots, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 30, 2010
Big Lots, Inc. / SEC EDGAR · SEC filing · Retrieved Oct. 11, 2026
Supports: Entity record
What we do not know
These are gaps in the public record, not findings about the organization.
- No current public ownership assessment has been published.
Help improve this record
Firsthand experience, public sources and corrections can help close the gaps above.