KB is closing is stores

[tmthor]

I just heard from a friend who is a kb store manager that it is official kb is closing.
I thought something was up when they stopped selling gift cards on wed.

[megocrazy]

Not surprising. If the major retailers aren't doing well how can the little guys? They don't get near the prices the Toys R Us and Walmarts pay for stuff. Too bad. I liked their stores mostly for the closeout stuff. I would get cheap stuff to rip apart for customs.

[Nostalgiabuff]

they have been closing down store for a while now so I am not surprised. I always thought they were way overpriced anyway. Other than the closeouts which were good buys

[Sideshow Spock]

Aw Jesus Christmas..

KB Toys Succumbs to Holiday Slump - Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds -- DealBook - New York Times

The KB in my local mall has been there since the mall opened in 1980.. it's survived all the various previous closings. I rarely buy anything there, but I always enjoyed stopping in to look around when the wife was taking too long at a dept store..

Sad to see it go.

[palitoy]

The end of an era.

During the 1980's KayBee was the alpha dog, their stranglehold on toy distribution and their restrictive payment terms forced regional chains like King Norman and Casselmans to either sell out to them or die.

[toys2cool]

That sucks,I just went to one yesterday.I found it kind of weird that they didn't have the last releases of some WWE figures I was looking for.

I'll miss KB

[BlackKnight]

Yeah,.. I think it's sad.
They have closed all thier stores near me for yrs now.. There is one I know of,.. about 4 hrs from me. I used to stop off there once a yr after my yearly concernt I would go to. No Concernt this yr however,.. so no visist to KB . Rest in Peace.

[vulcan2074]

I use to Love going to Kaybee. I haven't shopped there in quite sometime. That really Sucks. Seems like no Ones safe, I wonder whos next?
Sammy

[EMCE Hammer]

RIP. All we have left here are TRUs now. If they go in the next couple of years, it's safe to say that my children will never know the "toy store experience" the way I did. KayBee, KiddieKorner, Children's Toy Palace, TRU.......all things that I'll have to explain. Their "toy store" will be a few aisles at Target:-(

[Mikey]

Around these parts ........
I'd say, around 1997-ish most KB's geared themselves more toward very young childrens toys.
They got rid of 90% of all their action figures, model kits etc.
After that, I never walked in the store again.

[toys2cool]

The problem was that KB was always kind of a rip,I remember their prices were like double Toys r us's

But it was a good place to go to when my mom was shopping in the mall.I remember Star Wars,He-man and Super powers for sale for $1 during the 80's,I'll never forget that

[Mikey]

Yep,

When I was buying Playmates small Trek figures ... KB's price was always around $7.99 while toysRus was $4.99

toysRus was even cheaper then Kmart

[English Paul]

Sad news here in the UK too....Woolworths is on it's way after 99 years on the high street. It's been a source of toys for me and my kids for nearly 15 years now ever since the rereleased Star Wars figures first hit the stores. My boy doesn't really understand why it's closing but he will miss it as there isn't much else in the way of toy shops local to us.

[palitoy]

Sad news here in the UK too....Woolworths is on it's way after 99 years on the high street. It's been a source of toys for me and my kids for nearly 15 years now ever since the rereleased Star Wars figures first hit the stores. My boy doesn't really understand why it's closing but he will miss it as there isn't much else in the way of toy shops local to us.

I was told that on the weekend, really sad. The one thing I loved about visiting Europe were the Woolworths. So nice and oldschool.

[Seeker]

Soon Walmart will own everything retail wise.