Brandon appointed chairman, CEO of Toys R Us

David Brandon, whose rocky tenure as University of Michigan athletic director ended amid controversy, is returning to corporate America. He's taking charge of Toys R Us, the last of the big toy retailers.

Brandon, 63, will be chairman and CEO, and his hiring is intended to help revive the New Jersey-based company. Toys R Us has ambitions to become a publicly traded company after being taken private a decade ago, and Brandon has experience doing that.

"I consider it a tremendous privilege to assume this important leadership role at Toys R Us, one of the most well-known retail brands in the world," Brandon said in a statement.

Brandon ran Domino's Pizza Inc. for 11 years and helped guide the second-largest pizza chain in the world into a publicly traded company. Prior to Domino's, he led Livonia-based Valassis Communications, which later went public.

Toys R Us is still a retail giant but has been struggling for almost a decade, battered by discounters such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and the rise of online competition. Toys R Us has posted drops in sales the past three holiday seasons, its biggest sales period, according to Bloomberg Business news.

The chain has tried to fight back with steep price-matching practices. It has 866 Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Guam, 730 international stores and more than 240 licensed stores in 37 countries and jurisdictions.

The company also owns the exclusive FAO Schwarz brand. Toys R Us is closing its iconic FAO Schwarz store on New York's Fifth Avenue.

Brandon became athletic director at his alma mater UM in 2010, taking over while the football program was being investigated by the NCAA for rules violations. He upgraded facilities for all Michigan's teams, brought major sporting events to Michigan Stadium, fired football coach Rich Rodriguez and replaced him with Brady Hoke, who also failed to deliver respectable results.

Brandon resigned in October amid intense criticism from students and media. He angered many students after raising season ticket prices to the highest in the Big Ten during the 2013 season.

His end came with the mishandling of a player safety issue in Michigan's football game against Minnesota. Quarterback Shane Morris, later diagnosed with a "probable mild concussion," remained in the game one play after taking a hard hit in the fourth quarter. Then, because of what later was described as sideline confusion, returned for one play.

Students and media blamed Brandon and he resigned just weeks after the incident. He negotiated a $3 million settlement with UM to be paid over the next four years.

He starts at Toys R Us on July 1, when the company's current head, Antonio Urcelay, retires.

"I believe our best days are ahead of us and I'm eager to get started," Brandon said in the statement.

laguilar@detroitnews.com

Twitter: LouisAguilar_DN