Toys R Us will launch its first store on the Chinese mainland in November, drawing on an increasing demand for educational toys from middle-income consumers, its top Asia executive said on Monday.

The U.S. toy retailer, owned by a private equity group including U.S. property developer Vornado Realty Trust , would set up shop in Shanghai's Lujiazui financial district, Pieter Schats, chief executive officer of Toys R Us in Asia, told Reuters in an interview.

"We're currently focused on getting the one store up and running and the opening of that store will be in mid-November," Schats said. Toys R Us plans to launch an expansion plan it after examining Chinese consumers' buying patterns.

"Early next year we'll sit back and review, and decide how to expand the footprint both in Shanghai itself and in some other cities in China," the Hong Kong-based executive added.

Toys R Us and its competitors chase a Chinese market where consumers are expected to spend about 100 billion yuan (US$12.6 billion) on toys by 2010, driven by the country's 300 million children below the age of 14, according to official forecasts.

Schats said the firm would target middle-income consumers, staying out of the brand-focused top-end of the market, where Walt Disney Co. and Time Warner Inc.'s studio division Warner Bros. are among the most recent big players.

"There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of retailers that are occupying middle-income mass-market toy retail," Schats said, adding that he saw a strong demand for safer toys and toys with educational features, he added.

Toys R Us now has over 50 stores in Asia and more than 1,200 stores in 34 countries or regions worldwide. Its operations in Asia are a franchise business, wholly owned by Hong Kong's Lee & Fung Group and its Convenience Retail Asia unit.

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