Toys R Us -- ruining a company is very lucrative

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Qhue

Trump's Staff
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Sadly this is not the last time this will occur. Finding companies to load up with debt and pillage has become a cottage industry for various segments of the financial 'industry' .

It's almost the perfect trap, any sensible supplier to a company that gets raided by Bain Capital or it's bretheren would cease doing business with the zombie corporation knowing full well they are likely going to end up stiffed for the bill once it inevitably goes under. This is why they go after companies like Toys R Us whose suppliers have little choice but to use them as a market partner.
 
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Burren

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Yes, this is pretty crappy but, not all financial services are "evil". That's like saying all doctors, lawyers, dentists etc are evil. Or all car dealerships. There will always be bad eggs or straight up pieces of shit. But, there's a whole lot of good that goes on around the world. This just happens to be large, blatant, and public.
 

Brand

Molten Core Raider
1,159
313
You knew they were fucked the second Brandon took over...He has managed to fuck up everything he has ever touched.
 

Noodleface

A Mod Real Quick
37,961
14,508
Make sure you use any rewards dollars asap. Just redeemed $42 and bought the second kid a bed. Their babies r us furniture is surprisingly durable
 

OneofOne

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Hope it doesn't hurt Lego too much. I'll be checking if they have any good clearance sales (rather doubt it, why stop being the most expensive toy store now?).
 
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Koushirou

Log Wizard
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Not sure how true, but I heard that some products they aren't allowed to mark down at all, Lego being one of them (so far, they've been excluded from the stores I've checked). Also, apparently the store nearby us as soon as they found they were closing sent back all their trading card stock back to the manufacturers.
 

Miguex

The lad himself
<Gold Donor>
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where the fuck am I supposed to check out all the new Star Wars figures now?
 
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OneofOne

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Not sure how true, but I heard that some products they aren't allowed to mark down at all, Lego being one of them (so far, they've been excluded from the stores I've checked). Also, apparently the store nearby us as soon as they found they were closing sent back all their trading card stock back to the manufacturers.

They have a few Lego sets marked down 20%+ on their site, but that seems unusual. I've seen them have shit on the shelf for MORE than MSRP if you can believe that. You can see it on Amazon as well - they sell on there like other major retailers. Makes you wonder if they purposefully hold back stock.

Miguex Miguex Around here Target and Walmart have about as big a selection of toys (depending on when you go - they go through stock much faster than Toys R Us does/did).
 
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Goatface

Avatar of War Slayer
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trus carries a lot more collector items and smaller run items than any of the big box stores.

using rare/chase items was good for business at one point, but it didn't translate to online for them.
oddly enough, it did make for a online boom for scalpers
 
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Kaige

ReRefugee
<WoW Guild Officer>
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There's pretty much a Lego store in every mall these days, plus with all the other places and online retail, I'm sure Lego isn't worried.
 

Goatface

Avatar of War Slayer
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Lego's sales drop for the first time in 13 years
in the digital age all toy makers worry

some sites say amazon is going to be the big winner, could pick up 40% of trus' sales
with walmart getting 30%
10% or more could be lost, mainly from smaller toy makers

Walmart who were famous was squeezing maximum $ from each foot of shelf space
really don't seem to care about toys.
as someone that checks out diecast cars, they will have empty space for weeks
and non selling items on pegs for months to years
 

OneofOne

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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The Lego sales drop isn't a biggie. Basically they did so damn well coming out of their almost-death, that there was no way they could maintain that momentum forever. I do wonder what % of their sales are via the various large chains, though. I looked but couldn't find that info.

Walmart carries toys (in general) as loss leaders from what I've read previously - so if true, no, they probably don't care much about them. Their restocking time can indeed be horrible depending on location for sure. Some are far worse than others. Funnily enough, I'll typically see cheaper prices at Target than Walmart. YMMV

Stopped into a Toys R Us today with my son to see what was going on, if anything. The place was a mad house. I can honestly say I've NEVER seen that many people there. Was talking to the cashier and she was saying they were stumped too - they hadn't even started any of their sales. Guess I wasn't the only one who wanted to check things out.
 

Brad2770

Avatar of War Slayer
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I used to play the Pokemon card game at Toys R Us in like 1997. They had a league with badges and everything. I pinned them to my vest. Rest in peace.

OfficeSpace_031Pyxurz.jpg
 
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Ameraves

New title pending...
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Hope they go out of business sooner rather than later. They are a relic who isn't able or willing to keep up with the times. Took my son in a few times to the local one, but their prices are horrible compared to even other B&M stores, nevermind Amazon. That same store just moved a mile down the road into a completely new shopping plaza just built, because apparently the location next to an always-packed Target, across from an In & Out that's got a giant FULL parking lot from open to close, just wasn't cutting it.
I knew you were in the Bay Area, didn't realize you were that close to me. My wife and I were talking about how they moved it over there, and it makes absolutely no sense at all.
 

OneofOne

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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7,897
Yep, I'm actually not too far down the road from it.

And now after opening a brand new store, it's going to be closed. Shit boggles the mind right? Oh well, let's hope the sales are good.
 

OneofOne

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Didn't even bother to ask, and she didn't volunteer. I imagine they'll not want to scare off this mini-resurgence of sales before it's time.
 

Goatface

Avatar of War Slayer
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14,237
fox reports they only have enough money to keep the store open for 60 more days
will 2 waves of discounts
20 to 30 percent off in the first phase
75 to 80 percent off in the final phase.

edit also,
sales at their "Top 200" US stores, might start later or not at all, as they are still being shopped around.

the maker of Brats, is trying to buy the Canada stores
 
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