Yeah, anyone rejoicing in TRU's troubles should keep in mind what an absolute disaster it would be to the toy industry if TRU goes out of business. Big companies like Hasbro and Mattel will take a crushing hit and smaller companies will go under. The job loss will be enormous.
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Toys R Us to file for bankruptcy
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You are a bold and courageous person, afraid of nothing. High on a hill top near your home, there stands a dilapidated old mansion. Some say the place is haunted, but you don't believe in such myths. One dark and stormy night, a light appears in the topmost window in the tower of the old house. You decide to investigate... and you never return... -
Wow, all of these posts and nobody has brought up case assortments or toy scalpers once?
First off I feel really badly for TRU, I have three children and have been in a TRU hundreds of times since I've lived in the GTA. I grew up in a city that didn't have one, and it was a big event to go across the border into Minnesota and actually go inside one. I still have very fond memories of that and of taking my kids in.
We can all see with the mall closings, the death of many retail giants and how many people are strictly online now that it's not like the old days for TRU. However I keep going over other important factors that have just as much to do with their demise as (mostly), the online factor.
The first and biggest is case assortments. I think it's fair to say most of us here on the Mego boards still collect action figures. I love Star Wars, I still buy some (not much), of the new stuff but occasionally I'll go out and look for figures I like (for example I collect the cartoonie Rebels figures from the TV show). Is it really TRU's fault that in a case of 12 or 16 the really cool one might only be in the case ONCE? I also collect the original WWF Hasbro figures so I've been very interested in the retro Hasbro wrestling toys that have come out. To me what blows my mind is in the new case hitting shelves now, there is one of each of the cool 'old school' wrestling figures (Kane, Mankind, Hunter when he was a bum, and Sting), yet three of each of the ***-hats Stone Cold and The Rock! Again, you walk into a TRU hoping to find one, and of course, only the ***-hats are left! And you know who's got them...
And that leads into the good ol toy scalper! I guarantee (and I'm NOT throwing anybody under the bus), that anyone who has something negative to say about TRU has at one time asked an associate if they can find them figure X (the short pack, rare toy). Do you not think for one second that employee has already not only been asked for that figure 10 times that day, but has also been approached by said individuals (of which probably 50% are scalpers) to perhaps work a deal on 'the side?' Personally I feel badly for the kids who get stuck in the action figure isles, because those kids can't win. If they have it, and bring it out to the wrong person, they're "in cahoots!" If they don't have it, they're a jerk-off know-nothing ***-hat! And that one employee who can't find you the toy you're looking for is now the face of the franchise and when you go home you want to blast TRU because it's just a bunch of jerk-off 19 years old's who don't care. And you can do that because when you go to Walmart you can't even find someone to help you!!! The scalpers (I worked at Walmart in the 90's, the Hot Wheels guys were some of the purest scum since the Creature Cantina from Star Wars), are a really big part of this. There is a massive business of 2nd hand mark-up taking place that either TRU doesn't care about, or just ignores that is really hurting them. And really how can you stop it?
Look, I'm not defending TRU, but in the grand scheme of things Hasbro and Mattel stepping up and giving clear, equal case allotments would definitely make a big difference. And it was mentioned before, kids today just don't play with toys. I have 3 kids, my oldest is 12, and only between 3-5 did she really ever care about toys and that was Fisher Price. My middle child is my only son, he's 9. I used to buy him GI Joe toys (mostly 50th anniversary) to put together. But just like his Lego, he puts em together and puts them on a shelf. He does NOT play with them. He plays video games. Only recently has my 5 year old girl really gotten into toys, and her toys are even worse to buy (she likes these things called LOL girls, which are all blind box)!!! You have no clue who you're getting.
The point is we are the TRU customers still, to this day. And we're all I'd say at least late 30's, into our 60's I'm guessing (if we're Mego fans that is). We're savvy, we're smart, we also like to save a little money and it's no secret, it's far cheaper to buy online for this type of stuff (free shipping from most places too which really blows my mind). I'm sure many of you do what I do, go into the store to look, but buy online.
The bottom line is there are many factors that lead to this, and regardless what you think of their current state, it's still a sad time! I will miss them.
JayComment
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A lot of hate for... a toy store? I'm very saddened about a world without Toys R Us. They may not get everything right for 40 something collectors, but it's nice to have a place where you can go and it's all about kids.
Who's to blame? Well, maybe Toys R Us carries their share of it, but I think the real problem (besides online sales) is that kids don't play with toys as much any more. They grow up faster, and the electronics industry is robbing kids of the desire for physical playthings. I think Toys R Us is doing their best to keep up, but I really believe the customer base is shrinking.
What a sad thing.Last edited by enyawd72; Sep 22, '17, 2:40 AM.Comment
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Personally I feel badly for the kids who get stuck in the action figure isles, because those kids can't win. If they have it, and bring it out to the wrong person, they're "in cahoots!" If they don't have it, they're a jerk-off know-nothing ***-hat! And that one employee who can't find you the toy you're looking for is now the face of the franchise and when you go home you want to blast TRU because it's just a bunch of jerk-off 19 years old's who don't care.
Shopping at TRU for me means driving 90 miles round trip hoping they're going to have what I'm looking for, or I can call and ask an employee to check for me and hope they actually do it. It's always a crapshoot and I usually lose.Last edited by enyawd72; Sep 22, '17, 2:42 AM.Comment
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TRU is hiring 17, 000 workers for the holiday season.
- IanRampart, this is Squad 51. How do you read?Comment
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My personal experience with the action figure aisle kid...I was standing three feet away from a girl who answered the phone after a page. I don't know what the customer on the other end was looking for, but the girl said to the customer..."I don't know if we have any...let me check." Then she put the receiver to her chest, and just stood there twirling her hair for about 30 seconds while staring at the ceiling. Then she went back on the phone and said "Sorry we don't have any."
Shopping at TRU for me means driving 90 miles round trip hoping they're going to have what I'm looking for, or I can call and ask an employee to check for me and hope they actually do it. It's always a crapshoot and I usually lose.
I wonder how many other customers this has happened to, not just in TRU, but in other stores, as well, where the employee, who is, admittedly, probably a teenager/young "adult" (and I use that term loosely) and is likely making maybe a little bit above minimum wage, just doesn't give enough of a rat's arse about their job, their company or their customer to actually GO and look for what is being inquired about.
It's no wonder, if I'm looking for something very specific, I don't bother calling, I just traipse all over creation until I find it or break down and order it online...
This behavior is one of the contributing factors to the disease of disdain amongst brick-and-mortar operations and that disease, brought on largely by the companies themselves, is what is slowly, but surely, killing them.sigpic Oh then, what's this? Big flashy lighty thing, that's what brought me here! Big flashy lighty things have got me written all over them. Not actually. But give me time. And a crayon.Comment
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To be fair, having worked at TRU for many years there are often times when you know the answer to the customers question because you have been answering the same question all day, but they do not believe you if you do not disappear for a minute to "check the storeroom".Comment
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I'm Surprised they never did an UnderCover Boss EpisodeEveryone is Entitled to MY Opinion...Your's, not so much!Comment
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It is sad, but they've brought it on themselves...they really have. I just visited them last weekend, and they actually had something I would LOVE to have bought. It was an import Masterpiece Optimus Prime complete with semi trailer. A $160 Transformer packaged in a beautiful collector's box, and what did they do? They put one of those locking security devices around it and literally CRUSHED the entire box on every side. I showed it to a manager and asked..."Who is going to buy this? You've effectively ruined a $160 collectible." I suggested several alternatives, such as locking them up in a showcase, or keeping them in the back and using a shelf tag to purchase it. The manager just looked at me and shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you." Wow. Some answer. She didn't even offer to check if maybe they had another in back...nothing.
One last thing...I won't miss Toys R Us because we didn't have a Toys R Us out here on Long Island until about 1984/85. Before then we had Playworld, Kaybee, and department stores that used to sell toys. Sears used to have a toy section as did Gertz, Macy's, JC Penney, and a few others. The problem is when they want to be everything to everyone like most of the big box stores want...something will suffer or fail.Comment
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As expected, the troubles at TRU are having a significant impact on the company's overseas branches.
Looks like a third of the Toys R Us UK stores will close soon with up to 800 job losses.PUNY HUMANS!Comment
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To be fair, having worked at TRU for many years there are often times when you know the answer to the customers question because you have been answering the same question all day, but they do not believe you if you do not disappear for a minute to "check the storeroom".Comment
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TRU announces 180 US store closures:
I haven't collected a modern toy line in more than 15 yrs and haven't even been in a TRU for a couple, but I'm still glad to see "my store" (45 minutes away) is remaining open..Comment
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