Toys "R" Us is joining KB Toys, and FAO Schwarz is closing its doors forever and this being the largest and last national toy store company in the US.

I was not surprised to hear that Toys "R" Us was going into bankruptcy when they announced it last year and they said that the stores will not close so I was surprised to hear they they were closing all it's stores in such a short order after they announced reorganization.

The way in how fast it fell is in stark contrast with Sears in which it has been in bad shape for years with few customers inside but still going.

The last time I visited Toys "R" Us was about two years ago, the store was full of inventory but it was also sparse of patrons, the staff was very friendly and knowledgeable.

When my mom took me to Toys "R" Us 25 plus years ago the store was full of kids quite a contrast.

Did you ever visit this store or any other toy store when you were a kid and what was it like?

scbriml wrote:

2707200X wrote:

Toys "R" Us is shuddering its US and UK stores for good

"Shuddering"?

Udderly ridiculous

2707200X wrote:

Toys "R" Us is shuddering its US and UK stores for good

"Shuddering"?

Well if they're earthquake prone....

Another victim of vulture capitalism. It's beyond absurd that this shit is legal in the US.

http://theweek.com/articles/761124/how- ... ate-toys-r

LittleFokker wrote:

Another victim of vulture capitalism. It's beyond absurd that this shit is legal in the US.

http://theweek.com/articles/761124/how- ... ate-toys-r

Barbarians at the gate. Ruining good companies for ages now.

Several things led to the death of Toys "R" Us.

Massive debt by greedy investors including Vornado Realty Trust and big investments houses who took a big cut up front and putting massive debt at over $400 Million a year. That led to in part the next factor -
A lack of investment in stores, technology, on-line sales facilities
Higher pricing than Walmart, Amazon and others
Shift in toy demand, younger kids getting smartphones instead of toys
Over half of their business in the pre-Christmas period of the last Quarter of the year, so stores and warehouses so big enough for the prime selling time too big and money losers the rest of the year.
The decline in the working and middle class incomes so less money for toys so can eat and have a roof over their family's head.
Stores too inconvenient vs. Walmart, Target and on-line Amazon.
In the USA alone, over 33000 jobs lost, including over 1100 that their Wayne, NJ World HQ, hundreds each at warehouses, and many 1000s' in stores.

Some, but not all will find jobs as retail business shrinks across the country. Their operations in Asia and Canada may continue to exist, there is hope that about 200 USA stores and their on-line sales structure may be able to be part of a Canadian based operation. The UK and EC operations are pretty much dead.[/list]

ltbewr wrote:

Several things led to the death of Toys "R" Us.

Massive debt by greedy investors including Vornado Realty Trust and big investments houses who took a big cut up front and putting massive debt at over $400 Million a year. That led to in part the next factor -
A lack of investment in stores, technology, on-line sales facilities
Higher pricing than Walmart, Amazon and others
Shift in toy demand, younger kids getting smartphones instead of toys
Over half of their business in the pre-Christmas period of the last Quarter of the year, so stores and warehouses so big enough for the prime selling time too big and money losers the rest of the year.
The decline in the working and middle class incomes so less money for toys so can eat and have a roof over their family's head.
Stores too inconvenient vs. Walmart, Target and on-line Amazon.
In the USA alone, over 33000 jobs lost, including over 1100 that their Wayne, NJ World HQ, hundreds each at warehouses, and many 1000s' in stores.

Some, but not all will find jobs as retail business shrinks across the country. Their operations in Asia and Canada may continue to exist, there is hope that about 200 USA stores and their on-line sales structure may be able to be part of a Canadian based operation. The UK and EC operations are pretty much dead.[/list]

I'm not disputing that Toys R Us had other problems besides the vulture capitalists, but they would have survived a lot longer without them. Hell, maybe with a different management team and some adaptations to the modem world, they could have been profitable again. But when a company is allowed to buy another for only 10-20% down, and the rest borrowed against the company they're buying (usually with rotten interest rates to ensure failure), it's a guaranteed failure for said company (and after taking their "management fees," the vulture gets paid while the brand fails). Whatever happened to the concept of the buyer taking a risk when making an investment? Oh that's right, capitalism is only for those silly poor schmucks.

Weren't you a supporter of a certain Mitt Romney ?

ltbewr wrote:

Several things led to the death of Toys "R" Us.

....
A lack of investment in stores, technology, on-line....

Absolutely agree about the lack of investment in retail. I never went to one in the US but in the UK, they were largely soulless warehouses that felt like a B&Q / Home Depot. There was no buzz or atmosphere. I never once saw someone getting a crowd together demonstrating toys.

Contrast that to somewhere like Hamley's or even The Entertainer and it becomes pretty apparent. If you can't even make a fun environment in a toy store where you're surrounded by stock, you're screwed basically.

Wishing all those affected success in their future endeavours.

Mark

Maybe the compan(y/ies?) that operate these stores in other part of the world can expand back to US and UK

c933103 wrote:

Maybe the compan(y/ies?) that operate these stores in other part of the world can expand back to US and UK

Good riddance. unpleasant bunch of people.

Well it’s bad news and it’s in the UK ergo it must be #becauseofbrexit

As a kid I remember going there pretty much at least once a month. The last big event I remember was when Pokémon cards came out, so they organized games. It was a good thing to see, but it was kind of unorganized.

I myself worked at Toys R Us during the holiday season of 2008. Why anyone chose to work years there was a mystery to me. The managers were good, but there was one of them who was a pure bitch. She'd get along with veteran employees but treat the new ones with disdain. Needless to say, when I was told I would be laid off, I was celebrating.

My last visit to a Toys R Us store was probably about 4-5 years ago when I bought a Yomega Yo-Yo...the store never really had any patrons. Since then, I've traveled by a few stores in both MO and MD which always seem empty. The writing was on the wall for a long time; it was just a matter of when.

I worked at one store part-time over a holiday season after I had just bought my first house in order to earn some extra cash to buy new furniture for the place. Worked three evenings during the week after my regular job, along with Saturday. The managers were so happy to have a reliable, responsible adult to counteract all the flaky kids that were working there that they asked me to stay on after the New Year which I politely declined. It was a really fun situation in that I pretty much worked whatever hours I wanted since I really didn't care if they wanted to fire me. Of course that wasn't a problem with them. Sorry to see them go, but that's the future - on-line shopping is strangling the old business model

Good.... ToysRUs was as friendly as Wal-Mart... but with higher prices. Good Riddance