Toys'R'Us :-(

[EMCE Hammer]

My sons have been sitting on a pile of TRU giftcards from birthdays and Christmas. The rumors of a shutdown looming any day spurred us to make a visit today and cash them in. Lego sets were purchased and there was much rejoicing. I did my best to explain to them that this trip might very well be their last one inside a true toy store, but the magnitude of what I was trying to say went over their head. I am truly saddened by this turn of events. Simply put, there will be less of everything toy once TRU is gone. No big box store will have the footprint for more than a few aisles of toys, making it incredibly hard for niche ideas to come to fruition. There will always be a Star Wars section and a Barbie section, but new ideas will no longer have a launching pad once TRU is gone. Online retailers will pick-up some of the slack, but the experience of going to a brick and mortar toy store is going the way of Blockbuster. I lamented the passing of Children's Palace, Child World.....all the way to KayBee. But with them, there was always another alternative or replacement. Once TRU is gone, it's game over. Feeling like a fossil tonight.

[Iron Mego]

My daughter and I went to our local store today, it's one of the ones on the chopping block, so the sales had started and the place was a crowded mess. I told her the same thing, this is probably the last time we'll be going to a TRU. I used my last $5 Rewards 'R Us coupon and got her a little Playmobil set. Didn't find anything for myself. Luckily we do have a small toy shop we'll be able to go to for some stuff she likes, and Target and Barnes & Noble will have to suffice for the rest. Pretty soon here though she's going to outgrow toys altogether, which is even sadder to me than losing TRU.

[Werewolf]

Once TRU is gone, it's game over. Feeling like a fossil tonight.

It is very depressing. It's hit me hard too. Toys R Us has been around for 70 years. Not just a part of our childhoods but our culture.

The toy industry is going to take a massive hit. No more smaller or independent lines at retail. Companies will go under.

[Blue Meanie]

There must be some mixed messaging going on. The latest headlines of Toys R Us make it sound like the whole company is closing up shop which isn't true. I have a few friends that work for Toys R Us and they say what was initially stated that there are about 180 stores that are being closed....NOT the entire chain. In fact one of the stores out here on Long Island just got a reprieve and is not closing even though it was one of 4 stores that were supposed to close up. I wish the media would get the story straight instead of putting in the headlines that the WHOLE COMPANY is going out of business. That's out and out FALSE!

[Earth 2 Chris]

^I hope you're right. All the media buzz is the chain is completely done.

I hope my family can get out to one of our two nearby stores in the next week or so in case it really is the end, although it will be sad.

Chris

[enyawd72]

It is very depressing. It's hit me hard too. Toys R Us has been around for 70 years. Not just a part of our childhoods but our culture.

The toy industry is going to take a massive hit. No more smaller or independent lines at retail. Companies will go under.

I have no love for TRU, and honestly, they were doomed to end someday soon anyway as more and more people shop online. As for smaller, independent lines suffering, I think just the opposite will happen. I'm currently collecting several independent lines that sell directly through their own websites and they're doing just fine, since they don't have to give up a percentage of their profits to retailers. As long as online toy stores like BBTS and Entertainment Earth are around there's nothing to worry about.

[jimbutsu]

For clarifications sake as someone who worked at HQ for a big retailer way too long...

The initial plan was for TRU to declare bankruptcy and close a lot of their stores as part of a restructuring. The theory is that if you aren't performing well as a company, the benefit of reducing operating expense by shutting down poor performers (or leases that are high or in danger of renewing for more money) offsets what you can earn from keeping those locations open. usually it's a pretty deliberate list, where lots of factors get looked at to determine which stores are to be closed.

That is as much as TRU has ever said they're doing - the problem, and the reason it's so confusing, is that there are rumors that their restructuring plan isn't working out, and they will therefore have to cease operations outright and liquidate ALL locations vs. the ones they've announced. Because TRU hasn't (as far as I know as of Monday afternoon) really come out with hard confirmation or denial of anything, rampant speculation is holding sway.

In summary - many locations closing as part of a restructuring are confirmed. All of them shuttering due to a failed restructuring is the rumor. The reporting has been kind of messy and confusing. Truthfully, I could see it going either way - this is not a good time to be a big box retailer in the US.

[MRP]

In the articles I read, the reports said the initial closings were announced because they expected to get a financing dela to keep them afloat as they ran fewer stores, but the financing deal fell through, hence the expectations they will shutter completely. Initial plans assumed Hasbro and Mattel would step up to provide financing as well, and neither has as they had worse than expected holiday seasons too and don't have enough flexibility to finance another failing venture.

The reports aslo indicated rumors that TRU execs were upset news was leaked before they had a chance to notify employees at most levels of the expected changes. Now, these reports could be false, but without some kind of financing deal, even the limited store closings will not provide enough relief on operating expenses to allow them to continue operating. So unless there is some kind of new financing deal or one has happened that hasn't been discovered by those reports, something more than limited store closing will have to happen for TRU to move forward as the amount of operating capital they have on hand is not enough to keep operations moving forward.

The reports are speculation, but it speculation based on analysts looking at the available capital TRU has based on what they reported in bankruptcy filings, the operating cost estimates AFTER closing half the stores (again based on info in the court filings), and the lack of securing additional financing (gaining that financing is what they put forward in their proposal to keep from going out of business totally and only closing a portion of their stores to the courts), and saying hey, the math here doesn't work for them to keep operating. Add to it leaks saying new announcements were forthcoming from TRU (announcements that hadn't reached store level employees yet) and hence you have the speculation they will be ceasing operations altogether in the US.

-M

[jimbutsu]

Are we related?

[MRP]

Are we related?

probably just parallel development

-M

[ScottA]

People need to be taking pictures in their stores. How many of us kick ourselves we didn't in Kmart, KB or Lionel Play World?

[PNGwynne]

People need to be taking pictures in their stores. How many of us kick ourselves we didn't in Kmart, KB or Lionel Play World?

I agree. I went to Rizzi's Toys at our mall a lot in the early '80s, and I'd love to see pix of its shelves, as well as the other stores you've mentioned.

Our mall, Rolling Acres, had Rizzi's and Kay-Bee inside, as well seasonal toys at the anchor stores. Adjacent were both Children's Palace and Toy's R Us, as well as a nice, small discount store called Gold Circle. Those venues were a gold mine for toy shopping.

[Goblin19]

Didn't realize you were from Akron. I'd throw in Uncle Bills on the northeast Ohio list. That's the only place that I ever saw just about every Mego at. It was unreal because by that time you only saw the big 4 anymore and this store had almost every one. I got Thor, but really desperately wanted Joker, as well.

And, yes, I wish I had pictures of all of those.

[Godzilla]

I did the same thing this past week. My kids actually took out their phones and took pictures of the building. We didn't want them to be caught with gift cards they couldn't use if they went into liquidation. We went home with a bag of Lego sets and Splatoon2 for the Switch.

I've got 2 boys 13 and 11, so they've almost aged out of Toys R Us. But it was still a blast being able to take them there as kids. Need to kill a little time? Let's check out what's new at Toys R Us! Every December my wife and I would take pads of paper, pens, and the kids to Toys R Us and let them walk around as long as they wanted to and make their Christmas list. It was a fun way to bring the joy I remember from browsing catalogs into their lives.

Hell even when I was a grad student with no money (way before kids), I'd pop in with my wife to browse.

I can't and won't argue the economic reasons for the chains issues. But as a part of our culture and my life, I'll miss it.

[hedrap]

Took the kids Sunday. They were shocked by the news. I did the same as the rest of you; pop in, see what's new, maybe pick something up.

But their are rows of garbage lines that never had a chance. The entire Disney Movie section should be at a liquidators. I think they could survive, but it's almost like they need to divide the store into more clear and distinct sections - Kids, Babies, Games, Collector/Fans - and if it doesn't fit those quads, it's out.

From what I've read, the financing holdup is predicated more on Hasbro and Mattel not getting their ****e stogether - i.e merge already - so no investors want to step in. So because Hasbro and Mattel are being petulant about who buys who, financiers are going to let all three collapse like dominoes.

You know who should buy TRU? Apple. They're on the verge of buying Disney. Might as well streamline the distribution.