Jim K Global Moderator Posted March 15, 2018 Global Moderator Share Posted March 15, 2018 Quote Toy store chain Toys R Us is planning to sell or close all 800 of its U.S. stores, affecting as many as 33,000 jobs as the company winds down its operations after six decades, according to a source familiar with the matter. The news comes six months after the retailer filed for bankruptcy. The company has struggled to pay down nearly $8 billion in debt — much of it dating to a 2005 leveraged buyout — and has had trouble finding a buyer. There were reports earlier this week that Toys R Us had stopped paying its suppliers, which include the country’s largest toymakers. On Wednesday, the company announced it would close all 100 of its U.K. stores. In the United States, the company told employees closures would likely occur over time, and not all at once, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations. Toys R Us, once the country’s preeminent toy retailer, has been unable to keep up with big-box and online competitors. The recent holiday season dealt another blow to the embattled company, which struggled to find its footing even as the retail industry racked up its largest gains in years. In January, the retailer announced it would close 182 U.S. stores, or about one-fifth of its remaining Toys R Us and Babies R Us locations. A group of toymakers led by Isaac Larian, chief executive of MGA Entertainment, the giant behind brands such as L.O.L. Surprise!, Little Tikes and Bratz, on Wednesday submitted a bid to buy Toys R Us’s Canadian arm, which includes 82 stores, according to Larian. He added that he is also looking into buying as many as 400 U.S. stores, which he would seek to operate under the Toys R Us name. /snip More at WaPo 6 decades ... pretty good run. Last time I went to a Toys R Us was Halloween a couple of years ago (to get a battery chainsaw prop) ... and it was like a ghost town. I do have some memories of it growing up though (that and Circuit City). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SecretAgentMan Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 As much as I like online retailers some things I want to see in person before I make a purchase. I was a Toys R Us kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 (edited) And all our kids & grandkids were Babies r Us & Toys r Us kids. Sucks, and all because a 2005 leveraged buyout left them in debt up to their necks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rippleman Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Ecommerce does have its victims for sure. But, where there is downfall, there is opportunity for another. RIP toysRus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatingFatMan Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 They're also closing all 100 UK stores after failing to find a buyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DConnell Member Posted March 19, 2018 Member Share Posted March 19, 2018 On 3/15/2018 at 2:11 AM, Rippleman said: Ecommerce does have its victims for sure. But, where there is downfall, there is opportunity for another. RIP toysRus. E-commerce, nothin'! TRU's downfall was the perpetual combination of poor selection, terrible service and higher prices than most other stores selling the same product. I'm a toy collector, and I've lost count of the times I've walked out of TRU without an impulse buy after waiting 15 minutes in the line for the one open register. Of course, that wasn't recent. Except for Christmastime there generally aren't enough people in TRU to form a line. Or (for collectors) compelling enough merchandise to warrant taking to the register. It was all generally just the first wave of a given line (a year and 4 waves in!) and priced higher than I could get it elsewhere. It's a shame, but they're only got themselves to blame. There's been little reason to shop there for more than a decade. I'm honestly shocked it's taken this long for TRU to go under. Dysphoria and astropheed 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted March 19, 2018 Veteran Share Posted March 19, 2018 there's like no toy stores left anymore... my kids wont even know what one is....... when I was little we had Toys R' Us, Children's Palace, Kay Bee Toys... department stores had large toy sections (Hills kinda was "the toy store" in my area, their toy department was bigger then our local Kay Bee toys).. all we are left with here now is Wal-mart, and their toy section is just junk.... it's nothing compared to a toy store Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted March 19, 2018 MVC Share Posted March 19, 2018 If online ever goes to poop, we will be screwed because all the stores will be closed. Except for walmart. DConnell 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted March 19, 2018 Veteran Share Posted March 19, 2018 Just now, warwagon said: If online ever goes to poop, we will be screwed because all the stores will be closed. Except for walmart. and online sucks for I need it right now in the middle of the night... I don't know how many times I've had to run out to wal-mart at 2am because one of our newborns needed something... you can plan in advance all you want with newborns, fact is it doesn't always go how you expect it to... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
satukoro Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 RIP Toys R Us. You will be missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekrosoft13 Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 On 3/15/2018 at 1:11 AM, Rippleman said: Ecommerce does have its victims for sure. But, where there is downfall, there is opportunity for another. RIP toysRus. toysrus, downfall started way before ecommerce was popularized. 16 minutes ago, neufuse said: and online sucks for I need it right now in the middle of the night... I don't know how many times I've had to run out to wal-mart at 2am because one of our newborns needed something... you can plan in advance all you want with newborns, fact is it doesn't always go how you expect it to... what type of toy, do you need right now in the middle of the night? its probably a different type of toy, that toysrus wouldn't sell in first place. exotoxic and DConnell 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomoko Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 Does this mean we have to grow up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DConnell Member Posted March 19, 2018 Member Share Posted March 19, 2018 11 minutes ago, Rigby said: Does this mean we have to grow up? NEVER!!!!!!111!!1! Tomoko 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsYcHoKiLLa Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 They're guilty of the same as a lot of the other old dinosaurs, not seeing the web and online stores as an opportunity earlier and making a foothold. timster 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead.cell Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 56 minutes ago, warwagon said: If online ever goes to poop, we will be screwed because all the stores will be closed. Except for walmart. *shudder* This is a clear example of failing to adapt. People talk about automation hurting jobs... when online retailers are already destroying jobs as it is. When you see book stores, toy stores, even electronics stores shutting their does... it really does make you question the direction for quality jobs. People who think these mundane jobs are some sort of "right", that they need to exist... sound no different than Trump talking about how we need to have coal miners again. It's backwards thinking. What we need to do is get on-point with our education for good skilled jobs. Find ways to reduce the barrier to complex subjects. Working a cash register is going to be ancient history one day... unless the internet ever goes poop of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenon Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 On 3/15/2018 at 12:58 AM, DocM said: And all our kids & grandkids were Babies r Us & Toys r Us kids. Sucks, and all because a 2005 leveraged buyout left them in debt up to their necks. Yea that killed them. Also it did not help that they charged more than SRP on items. Their Lego prices were a example. A set had a SRP of 14.99 and they charged 17.99. Not for anything, rare just a normal set. I totally stopped shopping there years ago. Target and Walmart had better prices. DocM and DConnell 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 (edited) In MI we go to Meijers, which is huge and makes Walmart and Target look lame. Good groceries too - many regionally grown so very fresh, and at ours a farmers market is across the street. Win-Win.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenon Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 9 minutes ago, DocM said: In MI we go to Meijers, which is huge and makes Walmart and Target look lame. Good groceries too - many regionally grown so very fresh, and at ours a farmers market is across the street. Win-Win.. I heard of Meijers. I just checked, the nearest Meijers is over 500 miles away from me. My area is totally walmart and target. With Shop Rite, Wegmans or Whole foods for groceries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exotoxic Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 1 hour ago, nekrosoft13 said: toysrus, downfall started way before ecommerce was popularized. what type of toy, do you need right now in the middle of the night? its probably a different type of toy, that toysrus wouldn't sell in first place. A rare post that had me loling, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted March 19, 2018 Veteran Share Posted March 19, 2018 12 minutes ago, exotoxic said: A rare post that had me loling, thanks. nekrosoft is correct. Their issue is that they have too much debt to sustain themselves, this happened before amazon was a blip on the map. Amazon didn't help, neither did walmart and target. It isnt that they aren't profitable, it is that at the end of the day after they have paid all of their debts they are in the red. Their only choice right now is to go out of business. They could continue to do business and stay afloat if they didn't have the debts they had. https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2017/09/20/toys-r-us-is-a-lesson-in-how-bad-assumptions-feed-bad-financial-planning-creating-failure/#5b27a26158ea Quote With $400million of debt coming due next year, Toys R Us simply doesn't have the cash flow, nor assets, to repay those bondholders. Quote The important part of the Toys R Us story is realizing that the wrong financial decisions can doom your organization http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/15/news/companies/toys-r-us-closing-blame/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dysphoria Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 2 hours ago, warwagon said: If online ever goes to poop, we will be screwed because all the stores will be closed. Except for walmart. Someone at Walmart... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 1 hour ago, Xenon said: I heard of Meijers. I just checked, the nearest Meijers is over 500 miles away from me. My area is totally walmart and target. With Shop Rite, Wegmans or Whole foods for groceries. Meijer stores run about 250,000+ sq/ft and have a hell-and-gone better grocery than Walmart. They've even caused trouble for dedicated grocers. Generally higher quality general merchandise, in good supply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
branfont Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 (edited) You know, I've never been to a TRU in america, too late now, and only been to 5 different ones here in Canada as long as I have been alive, and I'll be 'the meaning of life, the universe, and everything' soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiranui Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Toys "Я" no longer Us All your Toys "Я" belong to Us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted March 20, 2018 Veteran Share Posted March 20, 2018 (edited) 6 hours ago, nekrosoft13 said: toysrus, downfall started way before ecommerce was popularized. what type of toy, do you need right now in the middle of the night? its probably a different type of toy, that toysrus wouldn't sell in first place. who said toys? I was taking about stores going away.. warwagon mentioned walmart and I continued on that.. newborns don't need toys, it's not hard to get what I was saying from my statement above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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