Toys R Us Filing for Bankruptcy?
 

Toys “R” Us has hired restructuring advisers from the prominent law firm Kirkland & Ellis as it tries to cope with hundreds of millions of dollars of debt coming due, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Among the options that the retailer, which is owned by private equity firms, is considering includes filing for bankruptcy, the people said.

Toys “R” Us must find a way to pay back about $400 million in debt as it tries to increase sales in the upcoming holiday season.

The company, based in New Jersey, is still holding out hope that it can refinance the debt. But the hiring of the restructuring lawyers by a financially troubled company usually suggests that bankruptcy is a real possibility. The hiring of Kirkland & Ellis was first reported by CNBC.

“Toys ‘R’ Us is evaluating a range of alternatives to address our 2018 debt maturities, which may include the possibility of obtaining additional financing,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement on Wednesday.

The company was bought by the private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Bain Capital, as well as the real estate firm Vornado Realty Trust, for about $6 billion in 2005.

For years, the company dominated toy sales, and its Babies “R” Us chain was a leader in baby products like diapers and strollers. But it has faced intense competition from big box retailers like Walmart and Target that have ramped up toy offerings. The rapid growth of toy sales on Amazon.com has also cut into the market share of Toys “R’ Us.



Toys “R” Us closed its flagship store in Times Square in 2015 to save money on rent, but in August, it opened a smaller, seasonal store a few blocks away to take advantage of holiday shoppers in New York.

Many traditional retailers have struggled to compete with Amazon, but the debt load carried by Toys “R” Us has amplified that pressure.

The company has about $5 billion in long-term debt and has been burning through cash, as sales decline.

As of April 29, the company had $301 million in cash or cash equivalents, down from $458 million a year earlier, according to a quarterly securities filing in June. The company said in the filing that it had hired the firm Lazard to help with its refinancing efforts.

But Toys “R” Us warned at the time that “a number of factors including factors beyond our control could reduce or restrict our ability to refinance these debt obligations on favorable terms.”

Already this year, there has been a wave of retail bankruptcies, including the children’s clothing retailer Gymboree, Payless Shoesource and rue21, which sells clothing for teenagers. Other retailers have closed thousands of stores and laid off tens of thousand of workers as they try to cut costs and compete with e-commerce sites.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/b...-advisers.html

Huh. Another Blockbuster in the making?

Never liked Toys R Us much. Back when I used to buy TMNT action figures still, they were always a couple of bucks or so more expensive at Toys R Us than at anywhere else. Plus, the place looks like a giant warehouse and is kind of soulless, imo. That being said, I don't wish bankruptcy on it, since many people would lose their jobs if it happened.

Noooo say it isn't so?!

I enjoy going into some TRUs near me, but the big stores usually feel empty of people. I can't imagine how much a store needs to clear a day to make a profit, but when you only sell plastic pieces of entertainment and baby clothes, most folks aren't going to casually browse the aisles. I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner.

Largely my experience too.

They charge too much, treat their merchandise like crap, take way too long to stock stuff in-store, & have the single worst online shipping system out there. Adios.

This and Amazon is kicking there ass in toy sales

It's hard to judge Toys R Us for me as an adult but as a kid I absolutely loved it and it was easily my favorite toy store so it'll be a shame to see it go. I'm already sad I never got to visit the Time Square store that I saw as a kid in tons of movies, even if it was technically FAO Schwarz.

I think it really is the end of Toys R Us, it has been having trouble for nearly a decade now, this isn't even the first "scare" of TRU going away. So many memories, the last ones I had there as a kid were going to the Pokemon TCG League every saturday. Even KB Toys which I hated really left a hole when it left.

Amazon isn't only to blame though, kids buy less toys now and people shop online more, it's a mixture of both. I actually remember when Amazon used to fulfill TRU orders in the early 00's.

My TRU could be a bit slow in getting new stuff in and a lot of space was wasted that could've had more product but I still loved it. Sales were rare but I still found a few decent ones, got my first Mew there as well.

yeah the few times I've been there as an adult it was rather empty. A large store being deovid of people is a bit unsettling.

TRU also sells video games... but so do many other places. The day of people buying video games at toy shops are long gone.

When i was a kid there were still some local toy shops around, so I got most of my toys and games form them. I count on one hand the stuff I've bought form TRU. I've been there once or twice as a kid sure, but don't remember buying anything there back in the day, tbh. Also, I believe TRU was firstly one of those big warehouse chains by the road/highway before it becoming just another store found at big malls/shopping centers.

That and they always smelled of piss and vomit.

How large are Toys R Us stores in USA? The only ones I've been to were in malls... so they were large but not HUGE. But originally Toys R Us were massive stores in the same vein as those big ass supermarkets by the road with parking lot and such, right? So if I find Toys R Us at the mall soulless enough already I can only imagine one 3-4 times larger.

KB Toys were the toy stores you found on malls, they were small but got the job done in making mom's trips to the mall tolerable. They mostly had older toys which is why I didn't like them but it was still cool and had a "look" that is very nostalgic.

Toys R Us on the other hand were a complete store so it was HUGE, at least to the eyes of a kid but basically an entire store for toys. Walmart's or other supermarkets just couldn't compete since the whole toy section a store like K-Mart might have was just the boys section alone or part of it. There's also the marketing and it worked, the stupid TRU Kid songs, Jeffrey the giraffe costume to get a picture with and the free packages that had AOL floppy discs and other goodies. Not to mention when they themed it for Halloween/Christmas or new movies or shows they would go all out.

Never heard of KB Toys, so I'm assuming they never made it to where I live.

All Toys R Us in Portugal(there's 9 of them, it seems) are in malls these days, it seems, so they're not gigantic like the ones you have in USA. We don't have Wallmart here so no idea what that store looks like either.

Someone mentioned Blockbuster... there were a few in my city in the mid 2000s, but they disappeared rather quickly. Me and my family always went to our local video rental store... which closed down around 2013 or 2014. It lasted longer than I expected tbh.

What the hell TRUs have you been to, dude?

Yeah I hope he was just joking. Cylons has a quirky sense of humor, so you can never tell heheh

I'm actually not. Every time I'd try to go into one, it smelled like kindergartners had been sick and scared everywhere. And some poor employee always had a mop and bucket. And a kid was always throwing a tantrum over a toy.

All of that. Every single time. I quickly stopped trying to find anything in TRU.

I remember some kid starting up the second I even entered the doors. I don't even know how I stayed.

More often than not, things have been fine in my experiences. I actually have two good memories of discussing action figures with a parent who had their kid with them.

Though the best part was being in a TRU on a Black Friday, and the day before Christmas where the stores were open wicked early for people to shop. It was kind of interesting being in a TRU with no kids around whatsoever.

Maybe it was just the stores in my area. But it was always pretty bad.

Considering I've actually worked at a TRU, the merchandise looking like crap is a warehouse issue, because I've seen trucks come in with the product just thrown all over them, especially if it's a big shipment. Stores taking way too long to get things in stock is also a warehouse/management issue, cause it goes by inventory numbers and half the time they wont send what you need until its too late.

Are Millennials going to get blamed for killing the big box toy industry?