Toys ‘R’ Us Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

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Megalith

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Crippled by competition and debt, the nation’s largest US toy store chain has filed for bankruptcy protection: it’s a move that will allow it to reorganize its $5 billion in debt to pay off creditors over time. The company's stores and e-commerce sites around the world will remain open for business.

The Chapter 11 filing is among the largest ever by a specialty retailer and casts doubt over the future of its about 1,600 stores and 64,000 employees. It comes just as Toys 'R' Us is gearing up for the holiday shopping season, which accounts for the bulk of its sales. "While today's decision does not necessarily mean it is game over for Toys 'R' Us, it brings to a close a turbulent chapter in the iconic company's history," said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.
 
I'm not even slightly surprised. Their selection is amazing, yes, but their prices are fucked. You would think a store that specializes in one aspect could keep the prices down. Their whole schtick is toys and their toys are the most costly.

Ridiculous when I can get the same for 80% of the price at Walmart.
 
Took longer than I expected.

As minimum wage continues to climb and physical operating prices continue to soar, this will be the trend for B&M based companies that can no longer compete with companies based on volume-driven e-tailer models.

The saving grace for Walmart was adding groceries to every store. Unfortunately for specialty/narrow-focus businesses like TrU and Best Buy, groceries aren't a feasible pathway to maintain/regain relevance.
 
auntjemima said:
I'm not even slightly surprised. Their selection is amazing, yes, but their prices are fucked. You would think a store that specializes in one aspect could keep the prices down. Their whole schtick is toys and their toys are the most costly.

Ridiculous when I can get the same for 80% of the price at Walmart.
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I would venture to say they don't have the volume walmart does. B&M is expensive. And walmart can bring in the foot traffic with all the other stuff they sell.
 
DejaWiz said:
The saving grace for Walmart was adding groceries to every store. Unfortunately for specialty/narrow-focus businesses like TrU and Best Buy, groceries aren't a feasible pathway to maintain/regain relevance.
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I'll agree with you but Lowes/Home Depot is the exception. Both these stores charge MSRP and then some for services.

They will take 50% off the installation price and stuff it in their own pocket and pay the sub contract laborer 50%. (That amount varies based on the service.) But it's far and above the standard contractor price of a 10% to 15% overhead to farm out work. I marvel how they get away with it.
 
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They had some decent deals on Nerf stuff. Walmarts selection was pitiful, this is my experience from last year. But nooo don't shut down, it's kinda fun visiting there my kid has too many damn toys is the issue, wish they would carry Gundam models and other cool toys that are a bit more learning oriented.
 
Only way they'll stay n the game is to become competitive with online. That's what BestBuy had to do and I think they're turning it around a bit.
 
modi123 said:
I wonder if I'll have time to go on a five minute super toy run?

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A classmate of mine back in elementary won such a run. He went straight for the Transformers and G.I.Joe

I would have emptied out the Lego isle
 
It's really sad how shitty our local Toys R' Us has become. First of all, half of the store became a Babies R' Us. All of the isles got very narrow, difficult for multiple people to be in the isle and impossible if two people both have a cart. Pretty much all of the items on the shelves are broken, damaged, crushed, torn, etc. You get the impression that people bring their kids in there just to play with stuff and then put it back on the shelf. They have good selection, but If I am going to buy something for full retail price to give to my nephew, I want it to look new...

Nothing like what it was like back in the 90's when I was a kid.
 
Rahh said:
Only way they'll stay n the game is to become competitive with online. That's what BestBuy had to do and I think they're turning it around a bit.
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It's the kids that will really miss out on this. The buyers, mostly adults, often use online now. But its the excitement of the store the kids like. Being able to touch, hold, and see the toys. When it comes to Lego's, which I still buy. That is the part of me that is still a Toys R Us kid
 
Exavior said:
Given where I grew up I never shopped at a Toys-r-us in my life. But every time I seen their prices they were much higher than anywhere else.

How often do you shop there?
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It's not about me but for my kids or kids in general who won't get that experience in the future. I don't remember the last time I was in there, maybe last year during xmas. When my kids were younger we'd take them to toy stores and they'd try all the toys out, etc. Nothing like seeing/touching/playing with before buying.
 
DejaWiz said:
Took longer than I expected.

As minimum wage continues to climb and physical operating prices continue to soar, this will be the trend for B&M based companies that can no longer compete with companies based on volume-driven e-tailer models.

The saving grace for Walmart was adding groceries to every store. Unfortunately for specialty/narrow-focus businesses like TrU and Best Buy, groceries aren't a feasible pathway to maintain/regain relevance.
Click to expand...

Best Buy is doing just fine.
 
Where in this commercial do you see what many consider to be the worst product of all time for a particular industry.
 
thesmokingman said:
It's not about me but for my kids or kids in general who won't get that experience in the future. I don't remember the last time I was in there, maybe last year during xmas. When my kids were younger we'd take them to toy stores and they'd try all the toys out, etc. Nothing like seeing/touching/playing with before buying.
Click to expand...

You're assuming kids of that age will be interested in physical toys. I fear kids will be addicted to phones/tablets/game systems unlike anytime before. One sad state was recently I wanted to get my 3yo a kite to fly, was told they don't carry those anymore but have a selection of drones to choose from...

The last time I was in a Toys R Us, the store was littered with cardboard boxes and poorly organized shelves. I'm not glad more competition is struggling but stepping foot in another one of their stores is not on my to do list.
 
Hey, that jingle was burned into my brain growing up.

And E.T. for the 2600 is no longer the worst videogame of all time. It was merely the most iconic since it ended up in landfill in New Mexico (along with tons of lackluster 2600 titles that didn't sell, like Pac Man, Ms Pac Man, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Defender)
 
That_Sound_Guy said:
You're assuming kids of that age will be interested in physical toys. I fear kids will be addicted to phones/tablets/game systems unlike anytime before. One sad state was recently I wanted to get my 3yo a kite to fly, was told they don't carry those anymore but have a selection of drones to choose from...

The last time I was in a Toys R Us, the store was littered with cardboard boxes and poorly organized shelves. I'm not glad more competition is struggling but stepping foot in another one of their stores is not on my to do list.
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We're lucky to still have a Hobby People near us for rc car stuff, kites, models, paints, etc.
 
Used to love picking out which tyco rc car I wanted a few weeks before Xmas. Mutator !
 
Not too many toy stories left. What were those ones in the mall called? KB Toys I think.

I never had an issue with their prices. I think toys in general are expensive. I usually go there for Lego's because of their selection, and Lego's are like Apple products.....always full price unless it's a set that can't move.
 
Just being able to visit my local Toys R Us was such a huge treat when I was young. Aisle after aisle of action figures, the giant wall of board games, or even just the educational books, bikes, and party supplies sections. When video games got bigger (NES-era), they still managed to keep the toy areas packed.
The last few times I've been into one, it feels like there's not really much for them to sell anymore. They have lots of Legos and a pretty large video games area, but that's it. They don't even have much in the way of stuffed animals anymore. It feels like they fill the shelves with lots of the same item rather than a wide variety. Wal-Mart has a pitiful selection of toys, but even the 5x larger Toys R Us barely seems to have more. Not sure what they can do about it, though.
 
auntjemima said:
I'm not even slightly surprised. Their selection is amazing, yes, but their prices are fucked. You would think a store that specializes in one aspect could keep the prices down. Their whole schtick is toys and their toys are the most costly.

Ridiculous when I can get the same for 80% of the price at Walmart.
Click to expand...

Yeah, even compared to other brick and mortars (pre-Walmart era even) TRU has always been overpriced. I am surprised they lasted as long as they have, to be honest.
 
I grew up poor so I didnt get to go to toys r us much, this doesn't bother me at all. Which illustrates how powerful nostalgia is on people whom are bothered. They have a business model that has almost no use now days. I go there when I need a gift that I just cannot find anywhere else and so don't have time to get it online or there is some too good slickdeal. So obviously that is not a very good business model. IMHO they are too on the middle to be of interest. Kids who have really unique interest can't find what they want there. Kids who have more common interests will usually find what they want at Wal-Mart so that leaves them with a small customer base of kids who are a little picky but not alot picky lol.
 
Toys 'R' Us received a commitment for over $3 billion in debtor-in-possession financing from lenders including a JPMorgan-led bank syndicate
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Not exactly something I want to hear when JPMorgan/Chase are my financial advisors.
 
thesmokingman said:
It's not about me but for my kids or kids in general who won't get that experience in the future. I don't remember the last time I was in there, maybe last year during xmas. When my kids were younger we'd take them to toy stores and they'd try all the toys out, etc. Nothing like seeing/touching/playing with before buying.
Click to expand...
The equivalent experience these days is watching a girl with fancily painted fingernails unboxing the toys on youtube. Kids can spend hours fascinated watching those videos. (and the good thing for parents is that they can't grab the toy and refuse to relinquish it, in the process)
 
Pull out the ticket for Nintendo 64... yellow ovaloid rectangle with price in it... take it to item reclamation...

Happiness in my hands
 
I worked at a Toys R Us from 1987 to 1994. I really enjoyed working there. I was one of folks ( Ticket-Writer ) that worked in the big, PlexiGlass booth ( Security Booth ) and handed out video games as well as maintained the stuff under lock-and-key and floor-sampled big ticket items. That job was a high demand job and only the best employees were allowed to do that job. In addition to the other things mentioned that attributed to their downfall was the change to the new floor plan in the early 2000's. I remember going in there to pick up a board game and the amount of space reserved for big-ticket items, which accounted for 40% of store sales when I was there, wasn't nearly as much as it was when I worked there. The problem is that they started carrying the same stuff as Wal*Mart... just more if it... instead of the niche items.
 
auntjemima said:
I'm not even slightly surprised. Their selection is amazing, yes, but their prices are fucked. You would think a store that specializes in one aspect could keep the prices down. Their whole schtick is toys and their toys are the most costly.

Ridiculous when I can get the same for 80% of the price at Walmart.
Click to expand...


And thus... bankruptcy.
 
First KB Toys, next is Toys R Us. I shop mainly Transformers figure and they are overpriced, but as of late selection has been crappy. With Amazon, Big Bad Toy Store, or TFSource, at least I don't have to go around to brick and mortar stores like Toys R Us to hunt. Even Walmart has better pricing and selection of Transformers figures. I do miss the store at Times Square. Let me know when there's a going out of business sale.
 
I don't shop there because it's too expensive. I may occasionally go in for something specific but otherwise I avoid it.
 
Sad, my kids are starting to outgrow stuff they sell at toy stores. I will admit that I still enjoy looking at some of the stuff.
I would think Amazon played a big part in Toys R Us dropping sales. My wife used to bitch about the Christmas lines, running out of stuff, parking, and a crappy web site (all in reference to Toys R Us). Compare to Amazon - usually decent prices, no lines, easy shipping. Why would I go fight some crazy people to maybe save a few bucks? No thanks.
Also, I didn't see anyone post Children's Palace. They used to look like a castle. They also had C64, Colecovision, Vectrex, Atari computers, and maybe Apple 2 (but can't remember on the Apple). We used to ride out bikes to that place and hang out until the store associates told us to leave. I spent some of my grass cutting money buying video games back in the day from them (also had a K-Mart next door that had a C64 setup - in fact, bought my first computer from KMart!)
 
Drakensoul said:
Pull out the ticket for Nintendo 64... yellow ovaloid rectangle with price in it... take it to item reclamation...

Happiness in my hands
Click to expand...

I remember the huge wall of video game art. Rip off the ticket and take it to the cashier to buy. So many good memories of that place. I miss just going through the isles of action figures and seeing the cool new toy from the hot new movie.
 
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