Where are kids gonna get the toys now?

[haraldo]

Shocker to me: Bankrupt Toys ‘R’ Us is closing all US and UK stores

https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/15/bankrupt-toys-r-us-is-closing-all-us-and-uk-stores/

 

[TheWarrior]

I just want them to start playing outdoors again, anyway!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Same place they have been getting it from last few years, in this order: Amazon, Walmart and Target

 

[speakerman39]

What? Santa does not get any love? We all know the Santa's Elves make all toys to begin with. You are all a big bunch of haters!


Cheers,

Phil

 

[haraldo]

I just want them to start playing outdoors again, anyway!

Don’t see that happening

 

[haraldo]

What? Santa does not get any love? We all know the Santa's Elves make all toys to begin with. You are all a big bunch of haters!


Cheers,

Phil

Don’t put me on that list please....

What are you saying, doesn’t Santa exist?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Don’t put me on that list please....

What are you saying, doesn’t Santa exist?

I'm saying that here's your Santa:
http://blog.wiser.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/santa-bezos.png

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

good read: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2017/09/20/toys-r-us-is-a-lesson-in-how-bad-assumptions-feed-bad-financial-planning-creating-failure/#3285002258ea

 

[TLS Guy]

Shocker to me: Bankrupt Toys ‘R’ Us is closing all US and UK stores

https://www.engadget.com/2018/03/15/bankrupt-toys-r-us-is-closing-all-us-and-uk-stores/

If you are in the UK it is Hamleys

Traditions die hard in the UK.

 

[panteragstk]

Toys R Us is their own worst enemy. You can't have all that debt, fewer employees and expect your customer experience to be good. That place is a madhouse on a good day and getting help is impossible.

Walmart isn't any better, but they at least understand how to make money.

Toys R Us also had a horrible online order/in store pickup experience. I did it twice at two different stores and never again. I stopped going to their stores just because of how bad the experience was. Their website is a joke.

You want to be relevant in the age of online shopping you HAVE to have a well functioning website/in-store pickup model.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Toys R Us is their own worst enemy. You can't have all that debt, fewer employees and expect your customer experience to be good. That place is a madhouse on a good day and getting help is impossible.

Walmart isn't any better, but they at least understand how to make money.

Toys R Us also had a horrible online order/in store pickup experience. I did it twice at two different stores and never again. I stopped going to their stores just because of how bad the experience was. Their website is a joke.

You want to be relevant in the age of online shopping you HAVE to have a well functioning website/in-store pickup model.

You could read the Forbes article I've linked above. It describes quite nicely how even if they'd wanted, they didn't have money to build better web presence nor hire more staff.

 

[panteragstk]

You could read the Forbes article I've linked above. It describes quite nicely how even if they'd wanted, they didn't have money to build better web presence nor hire more staff.

I read it or one similar the other day. That was supposed to be the point of my post. They didn't have the money for staff and it showed. I wonder if they'd have survived had they sold off inventory and closed more stores early?

 

[pewternhrata]

Toys R Us is their own worst enemy. You can't have all that debt, fewer employees and expect your customer experience to be good. That place is a madhouse on a good day and getting help is impossible.

Walmart isn't any better, but they at least understand how to make money.

Toys R Us also had a horrible online order/in store pickup experience. I did it twice at two different stores and never again. I stopped going to their stores just because of how bad the experience was. Their website is a joke.

You want to be relevant in the age of online shopping you HAVE to have a well functioning website/in-store pickup model.

They also didn't believe in online sales off the bat, they signed a contact with Amazon to be their exclusive vendor, Amazon of course allowed other toy vendors to sell through their site. Few lawsuits later and toys r us was back at the start too late in the game.
I'll blame Amazon all day, they want to rule e-commerce and they do. Companies often sell on Amazon and take a loss, it's almost looked at as cheap advertising, if you want to be in the big games you have to have product on Amazon even if you lose revenue.

 

[Midwesthonky]

What? Santa does not get any love? We all know the Santa's Elves make all toys to begin with. You are all a big bunch of haters!


Cheers,

Phil

Santa contracts to use Chinese political prisoners for labor to build toys??

 

[j_garcia]

They've been saying Toys R Us would go out of business for like 5 years, so it should come as no shock. Same thing is being said about Best Buy, so don't be surprised when that happens too.

I ALWAYS did the Xmas toy shopping at Toys R Us because I could get something for all ages, all interests, in one shot. That was the nice thing, but other than that, I never had a reason to go there really.

When you get stuck in the situation where you don't have the money to compete, you'd better recognize it early. See the trends and where things are going and who is taking over your market share (amazon, walmart, target, etc...) or you will be the one left behind and that's what happened here. Toys have specific seasons and a seasonal business isn't a good business model that will survive by itself - that's why Amazon, Walmart and Target don't have the same issue.

 

[Sheep]

A lot of businesses that stock product on shelves are going to feel the squeeze. NCIX went under here as well for the same reasons. All the manufactures that you sell can stock and ship their own goods. Instead of keeping physical inventory just have the supplier ship it for you and save those costs on staffing, warehousing, and shipping.

SheepStar

 

[panteragstk]

Geeze. Talk about having a bad year.

http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/22/news/companies/toys-r-us-founder-obituary/index.html

 

[MR.MAGOO]

the kids will get their toys where they've always gotten them, at the Apple Store!

 

[slipperybidness]

Toys R Us is their own worst enemy. You can't have all that debt, fewer employees and expect your customer experience to be good. That place is a madhouse on a good day and getting help is impossible.

Walmart isn't any better, but they at least understand how to make money.

Toys R Us also had a horrible online order/in store pickup experience. I did it twice at two different stores and never again. I stopped going to their stores just because of how bad the experience was. Their website is a joke.

You want to be relevant in the age of online shopping you HAVE to have a well functioning website/in-store pickup model.

Yup, you mostly nailed it.

I will add some of my own notes too.

If I buy from them online, I always just used their official ebay store and got it shipped to my home.

Toys R Us normal pricing is over-priced, when they have a sale, they are close to the normal daily Amazon pricing!

And, the in-store selection isn't really that great either! And, now like 30% of the stores tend to be dedicated to baby crap. Where are the decent or awesome slot car tracks? All they have is the crappy ones that will break in a couple weeks. You would think they should have a great Nerf collection....nope! Not even good collectible toys to bring in the older "kids".

The only items that they had a huge selection on were Lego sets. While those are great, you can't keep the store running on Legos alone.

Unfortunately TRU just isn't what it was when I was a kid. I can't say that I even hate to see them go.

On the other hand.....I did hate to see the demise of Kaybee Toys! What I loved about Kaybee is that they were never shy about deep discounts to move product!