Toys ‘R’ Us announced Tuesday it will close as many as 182 Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us stores nationwide — including 14 in Southern California — as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan.

That equates to about a fifth of the company’s brick-and-mortar operations. According to numerous reports, liquidation sales will begin in February, with doors closing permanently by April.

‘Death watch’

Economist Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics said the move isn’t surprising.

“Toys ‘R’ Us was already on death watch,” he said. “Toys and electronics just can’t compete in a normal way with Amazon. This is just the continuing evolution of the retail space. The fact that they have gone this long is a bit of a shock to me.”

Here is the full list of Southern California stores that will be affected.

Toys ‘R’ Us:

Santa Ana: 3900 Bristol St.

Mission Bay: 1240 W. Morena Blvd.

Babies ‘R’ Us:

Simi Valley: 1189 Simi Town Center Way

Santa Clarita: 26573 Carl Boyer Drive

Brea: 2575 E. Imperial Highway

Westminster: 530 Westminster Mall

Torrance: 20120 Hawthorne Blvd.

Mira Mesa: 8181 Mira Mesa Blvd.

Vista: 1990 University Drive

Combination Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us stores:

West Covina: 960 Lakes Drive

Puente Hills: 1600 S. Azusa Ave.

Corona: 3665 Grand Oaks

Indio: 42500 Jackson St.

Riverside: 2550 Canyon Springs Parkway S.

In a statement posted on the company’s website, the New Jersey-based retail chain said the closures were “part of the next step in the restructuring process and overall turnaround plan.”

“The successful reinvention of our brands requires that we make tough decisions about our priorities and focus,” the company said. “The actions we are taking are necessary to give us the best chance to emerge from our bankruptcy proceedings as a more viable and competitive company that will provide the level of service and experience customers should expect from a market leader.”

To get a sense of how deep in debt the company is, consider this: Toys ‘R’ Us owes $7.5 billion to a group that includes virtually every major toymaker in the country: Mattel is owed $136 million, Hasbro ($59 million), Spin Master ($33 million), Lego ($32 million), Radio Flyer ($12 million) and Crayola ($2.6 million).

The toy industry has been hampered by lower sales for the past few quarters in the face of growing demand for other forms of entertainment, including video games, MP3 players, tablets, smartphones and other electronic devices.

And it doesn’t help that more and more customers are buying their toys and other merchandise through Amazon and other online outlets.

Amanda Jones stopped in early Wednesday at a Babies ‘R’ Us store in Santa Clarita that will be among the closures. She was sorry to hear the news.

“It’s always disappointing to see stores closing,” the 34-year-old Santa Clarita resident said. “It makes you worry that bad things are happening with the economy again, and I don’t want it to get as bad as it was. It seems like things were finally getting back to normal.”

Tanya Torres, who works at a Dick’s Sporting Goods store a few doors down, hadn’t heard about the closures. But the Santa Clarita store, she said, never seemed to be busy.

“I went there last summer and there was nobody in there,” she said.

Jones said she’s a big fan of Amazon.

“I use Amazon a ton, so it’s not surprising the impact that it’s had,” she said. “It’s really convenient because you can get stuff right to your door and you don’t have to go anywhere at all.”

Toys ‘R’ Us operates about 1,600 stores worldwide, 880 of which are in the U.S.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been edited to correct the number of Southern California Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us stores that are closing.