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Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 02:10 PM Mar 2018

Toys R Us may go out of business next week, close all U.S. stores: reports

NEW YORK — Bankrupt retailer Toys “R” Us may shut all its US stores as soon as next week, according to several reports.

That’s terrible news for the two biggest publicly traded toy companies. Investors are clearly preparing for the worst. Shares of Hasbro fell 3.5% Friday morning while Mattel plunged 7%.

Smaller toy company Jakks Pacific fell nearly 5% too. Canada’s Spin Master, which owns the popular line of Hatchimals toys, was down about 3% as well on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

And everything isn’t awesome for privately held European toy giant Lego either. The plastic bricks maker reported its first sales drop in thirteen years earlier this week. So these are clearly tough times for the toy makers.

http://wgntv.com/2018/03/09/toys-r-us-may-go-out-of-business-next-week-close-all-u-s-stores-reports/

This is going to have a tremendous negative affect on not only those employed by Toys R Us, but upward in the toy & game industry distribution chain to the manufactures. It may present an opportunity for small local operators (such as game, comic and gift stores) to fill the void, but that will only come to pass if such companies as Hasbro & Mattel strive to work with and embrace the smaller operators. Target has made a commitment to expand games in their stores as of last year, but time will tell if Target, Walmart and the remaining big box Retailers are interested in increasing sales in this category.

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Toys R Us may go out of business next week, close all U.S. stores: reports (Original Post) Sherman A1 Mar 2018 OP
Amazon. Suppose you want a hard-to-get toy. MineralMan Mar 2018 #1
Problem is, I've had so many issues with Amazon and online shopping over the years.... Tommy_Carcetti Mar 2018 #2
I hear stories like this and it baffles me... Atman Mar 2018 #5
Maybe I'm just unlucky. Tommy_Carcetti Mar 2018 #6
Prime is even better if you have an Amazon store near you. Atman Mar 2018 #9
I am a Prime member as well and order from them quite a bit and I don't think I have ever smirkymonkey Mar 2018 #12
I was thinking the same thing. Hassin Bin Sober Mar 2018 #17
I'm in the same boat Blue_Adept Mar 2018 #25
I've never had a single problem with any Amazon order. MineralMan Mar 2018 #15
They were in debt from a corporate buyout, so that hobbled them. More than one reason for this. bettyellen Mar 2018 #7
No doubt there are multiple reasons. MineralMan Mar 2018 #18
I always liked going to a local specialty store that had really creative stuff they wouldnt have bettyellen Mar 2018 #19
Toy makers have vastly multiplied the SKUs in inventory, e.g. ethnic and body type diverse Barbies FarCenter Mar 2018 #14
Yes, that's why I used the Barbie example. MineralMan Mar 2018 #16
Amazon up 1.2%. briv1016 Mar 2018 #3
Lay this failure at the feet of Bain Capital. MANative Mar 2018 #4
Exactly right. bettyellen Mar 2018 #8
Also, the vulture capitalist firm KKR, which had a hand in the Toys R Us debacle Cirque du So-What Mar 2018 #13
+1, TRU without the back bending debt could get through this uponit7771 Mar 2018 #24
Enjoy that $1,000 bonus, Trumplodytes! Initech Mar 2018 #10
I want to like toys are us Egnever Mar 2018 #11
That site is really cool. I only looked at it briefly, but it seems to be geared more lunamagica Mar 2018 #21
Poor kiddies lunamagica Mar 2018 #20
I bought toys on Etsy last year crazycatlady Mar 2018 #22
When my kids were little, Toys R Us was a great treat Maeve Mar 2018 #23
This was exactly what I thought. Brings back many memories. dameatball Mar 2018 #26
Same here Freddie Mar 2018 #29
Their business model just doesn't make sense for this time. cemaphonic Mar 2018 #27
I always saw them as a very high priced store. No bargains there really.my kids were never in to lunasun Mar 2018 #28
64000 people shit out of luck!!! FreeStateDemocrat Mar 2018 #30
I haven't been in a Toys R Us in aout 20 years at this point. PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2018 #31

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
1. Amazon. Suppose you want a hard-to-get toy.
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 02:22 PM
Mar 2018

You use Amazon. You don't go to the mall and go into a Toys R Us store, which is probably sold out. Amazon buys that stuff by the carload. That's what is killing Toys R Us and a lot of other chains. They buy by the carload, too, but distribute them by the dozen to all their stores, so the stores run out quickly.

On Amazon, you'll know whether the thing is in stock and when you'll get it. Why would anyone take a chance and go to the Mall?

Or say, you live in some podunk town and want a particular Barbie Doll that is a specialty doll in short supply. You go to Amazon. If it's in stock, you buy it and your kid is happy. If you drive to the Mall, odds are the store only had one or two in the first place, and those are already gone.

This is why stores like Toys R Us are folding. They simply can't match demand with local stock. They can't even anticipate demand, really. Amazon doesn't care. It buys in mass quantities and is far more likely to have your item available. You don't even have to leave your house.

The old retail model is dead for products like those, and for many others.

I needed a special latch for the gate of a chain link fence I was building. Nobody here had that latch. I asked about ordering it and was told 2-6 weeks. I went on Amazon. I got it two days later. Now, I wouldn't order the posts and chain link fabric from Amazon, of course. But, even with that, I had to go to two Home Depot stores to get everything I needed. Why? It was all standard stuff, but someone hadn't re-ordered the parts when they ran out.

Amazon has it all. Whatever you need. It's all in stock and ready to ship. Why would anyone shop any other way for most things?

Tommy_Carcetti

(43,085 posts)
2. Problem is, I've had so many issues with Amazon and online shopping over the years....
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 02:27 PM
Mar 2018

....shipping the wrong orders, shipping late, forgetting my order entirely.

There is something to be said about being able to confirm what you're getting is what you want, and having it immediately that I don't get with shopping online.

Problem is, as you mention, online has better selection. But unless it's something I know I'll have a problem getting at a physical store, I try to avoid shopping online at all costs.

Atman

(31,464 posts)
5. I hear stories like this and it baffles me...
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 02:33 PM
Mar 2018

How does ONE person repeatedly have so many issues with Amazon? I've been a Prime member for years now (primarily for the music and video more than the free shipping) and have never had a single issue with them. I would guess that my experience is more common, or Amazon would not be the success that it is.

Tommy_Carcetti

(43,085 posts)
6. Maybe I'm just unlucky.
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 02:36 PM
Mar 2018

I mean, I've had multiple times where Amazon has worked perfectly. So it's not like they're always wrong.

But they've fucked up my order on more than one occasion.

Of course, it probably doesn't help my case that I'm a peon without Prime.

Atman

(31,464 posts)
9. Prime is even better if you have an Amazon store near you.
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 02:42 PM
Mar 2018

No worry about leaving packages to be stolen off your porch, or left out in the rain. Some stuff you can get delivered the same day. It's safe in a locker until you go pick it up, and you get tracking updates every step of the way. Open it in the store -- if it's wrong, just hand it to clerk and they'll ship it back for you. Well worth the $99 when you figure all of the other stuff you get with Prime.

That said -- SHOP LOCAL whenever possible.

 

smirkymonkey

(63,221 posts)
12. I am a Prime member as well and order from them quite a bit and I don't think I have ever
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 02:48 PM
Mar 2018

had a problem with them.

Hassin Bin Sober

(26,273 posts)
17. I was thinking the same thing.
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 03:19 PM
Mar 2018

We never have a problem.

Our only beef is they leave stuff on our porch all the time without buzzing. I was home all day the other day and came outside to find my blender on our porch. I'm in Chicago and there has been a lot of theft reported. But none by us.

I guess they figure an occasional theft is the cost of getting things delivered fast. And they are probably right. For the longest time (pre amazon days) I refused to use FedEx because they couldn't manage to "make it happen" while UPS was getting stuff delivered by either buzzing all buzzers or leaving the package behind a bush.

I recently, out of habit, ordered some boots from an online retailer I've been using for years. After I pressed "order" I thought to look at Amazon. Not only were the boots 5 bucks cheaper but I could have received them in a couple days. The other retailer didn't acknowledge the order for 4 days and then said 5-10 business days after that.

I needed a hand powered miter saw for a project I was trying to finish over the weekend. I was prepared to pay $52 at Home Depot if I could have picked it up. Nope. Out of stock. $34 dollars on Amazon and I will have it tomorrow.

Blue_Adept

(6,384 posts)
25. I'm in the same boat
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 03:35 PM
Mar 2018

Been using Amazon since they were just dealing in books. I get in a hundred+ shipments per year (personal and work) and never an issue.

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
15. I've never had a single problem with any Amazon order.
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 03:13 PM
Mar 2018

Not once. And between my wife and I, that's a lot of orders. So, I'm not sure why your experience is different.

 

bettyellen

(47,209 posts)
7. They were in debt from a corporate buyout, so that hobbled them. More than one reason for this.
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 02:38 PM
Mar 2018

It’s expensive for stores to make shopping the fun experiences can be with a good assortment and attentive staff. When they do it right, it’s worthwhile and you discover things you never could with a few clicks. Far too often these days, people step aside and comparison shop online to skip paying the salaries of those that just helped them find the product.

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
18. No doubt there are multiple reasons.
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 03:21 PM
Mar 2018

I always hated going into a TRU store, frankly. Narrow aisles and confusing stock selection. Fortunately, my toy buying days are long over. All of my great-nieces and nephews are in puberty by now, and don't want toys. They get Amazon gift cards now for birthdays and holidays. We have 10 of them, my wife and I. We've kept up gift-buying, since we don't have kids or grandkids of our own. High School Graduation is the last stop for gifts, though, and about half of those kids are nearing that point, thank goodness.

 

bettyellen

(47,209 posts)
19. I always liked going to a local specialty store that had really creative stuff they wouldnt have
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 03:25 PM
Mar 2018

Already seen on Nickelodeon and either rejected or demanded from their parents. Very often my sister in law would give me a list, and that would demand a trip to TAU or later, an online order. But I’d like to surprise them with something they’d never seen before, despite their intital WTH is this reaction. Being a city dweller, I’m trying to keep my local businesses afloat. Not easy.

 

FarCenter

(19,429 posts)
14. Toy makers have vastly multiplied the SKUs in inventory, e.g. ethnic and body type diverse Barbies
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 03:00 PM
Mar 2018

Mattel Introduces Barbie Dolls With Diverse Body Types

https://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/everything-kids/mattel-introduces-barbie-dolls-with-diverse-body-types/

But this also goes for the multiplicity of toys connected to video programs, video games, etc. as well. E.g the myriad of sizes and constructions of the various Paw Patrol dogs.

Amazon can manage all these variations in their warehouses. Brick and mortar stores, not so much.

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
16. Yes, that's why I used the Barbie example.
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 03:16 PM
Mar 2018

If you want a particular Barbie variety, your chances are going to be better at Amazon than at the mall.

Besides, I always found Toys R Us stores to be difficult to shop in. Too much stuff crammed into too little space, it seemed to me.

Oh, well. I don't buy toys anymore, anyhow.

MANative

(4,105 posts)
4. Lay this failure at the feet of Bain Capital.
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 02:29 PM
Mar 2018

Toys R Us brings in $7B a year, but when Bain bought them, they loaded them up with a shit-ton of debt that they could never recover from. It's a common practice with PE and VC firms, and the one that owns my company wanted to try that game. Very glad that the Board and CFO wouldn't go along. It's a business killer.

No doubt that changing shopping habits have a good deal of impact on their model and success, but this debt was at least as big a contributing factor as Amazon and Walmart. Toy makers always used TRU to test out new ideas, then would put them into mass merchants like Walmart. That model will also have to change. Nobody wins.

Cirque du So-What

(25,812 posts)
13. Also, the vulture capitalist firm KKR, which had a hand in the Toys R Us debacle
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 02:56 PM
Mar 2018

I had the misfortune of working for a company under the aegis of KKR. Long story short, KKR acquired a consortium of 6 troubled companies and rolled them into our organization - along with untold millions of debt. Soon afterward, our division was hit with a layoff - eliminating 22 well-paid jobs.

 

Egnever

(21,506 posts)
11. I want to like toys are us
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 02:45 PM
Mar 2018

But over all their shelves are filled with crap. Branded merchandising crap. Avengers and whatever kids movie was released recently. a large portion of their inventory was nothing more than marketing nonsense.

If they had an inventory more like say https://www.vat19.com/ they would be doing way better IMHO. Obviously they had structural issues as well but I mostly quit going there years ago when I realized about the only thing they were good for was kids bikes and even that was questionable as most of the bikes were cheap crap.

lunamagica

(9,967 posts)
21. That site is really cool. I only looked at it briefly, but it seems to be geared more
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 03:28 PM
Mar 2018

Last edited Tue Mar 13, 2018, 01:44 AM - Edit history (1)

to adults than children.

crazycatlady

(4,492 posts)
22. I bought toys on Etsy last year
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 03:32 PM
Mar 2018

I found a great handmade wodden game for my niece (3) who loved it. I like supporting artisans who make their own products.

My nieces are 3 and 5. Right now it is Disney Princess everything. I'm not sure how long they'll want non electronic toys.

Maeve

(42,225 posts)
23. When my kids were little, Toys R Us was a great treat
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 03:34 PM
Mar 2018

We would take them on a birthday shopping trip and let them chose their gifts--they thought they were in heaven!
"I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid;
they have a million toys at Toys R Us that I can play with!
From bike to trains to video games, they're the biggest toy store, gee whiz!
I don't wanna grow, cuz baby of I did, I couldn't be a Toys R Us kid!"

Freddie

(9,232 posts)
29. Same here
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 04:11 PM
Mar 2018

We lived near one when the kids were little and it was a great place to buy diapers, formula and other baby stuff, cheaper than anywhere else and great selection. Don't know if that's still the case.
I agree with others here the problem is leveraged buy-outs and other financial shenanigans more than competition from Amazon and Walmart. Although I'm guilty of getting my grandchildrens' presents on Amazon myself.

cemaphonic

(4,138 posts)
27. Their business model just doesn't make sense for this time.
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 03:53 PM
Mar 2018

I'm 43, with kids, 11 and 8, so I am smack-dab in the toy-buying demographic. I sometimes go into Toys'R Us to redeem gift cards, and most of their inventory seems to be cheap plastic toys from the most heavily marketed brands of the biggest companies. But they can't compete with Amazon on either price, variety or convenience in that market.

At the same time, the younger Xers and Millennials that are in their child-raising years are brand-adverse, suspicious of advertising, environmentally conscious, and so on, so all the plastic crap that Mattel and Hasbro makes is a harder and harder sell every year. Plus, video games keep drawing time, money and attention away from physical toy. The toy stores that do well in my area have a large stock of things like art supplies, science kits, board games, and creative hobbies like juggling or magic, instead of a giant wall of Barbies.

lunasun

(21,646 posts)
28. I always saw them as a very high priced store. No bargains there really.my kids were never in to
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 03:56 PM
Mar 2018

collecting things or a special brand etc.
Bought a tricycle on sale that's all I can remember
Occasionally one would get a birthday gift card for the store we would use it up but $ didn't go so far there.
Kids didn't ask to go there and the store is very near.
They are teens now and it's geared to baby and younger kids
Add my own experiences up and I'm not surprised by the news

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,750 posts)
31. I haven't been in a Toys R Us in aout 20 years at this point.
Mon Mar 12, 2018, 04:16 PM
Mar 2018

But when my sons were little I liked it. We could test drive the toys, so to speak.

I also shopped at other places for them, including some specialty toy stores I knew at the time.

I am sorry they are going out of business, although it's not likely I'd ever be on one again.

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