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Old 03-10-2018, 01:12 AM   #61
dl316bh
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Originally Posted by IndigoErth View Post
I guess that ship may go down right alongside Sears (who I work for).
It's funny, I actually would have thought Toys 'R Us would have outlived Sears. They have not been doing well for years now. Half their stores are stuck in the barren tombs we used to call shopping malls, with barely any visible foot traffic, and the smaller outlets don't seem to fare much better.
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Old 03-14-2018, 06:13 AM   #62
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The problem with Toys R us is they loaded themselves down with debt around 2008. Before that they were nearly debt free. I looked at their financials and they have not had much of a dip in sales. They’re pretty steady foe a retail store.

I thought maybe they could work it out with creditors, but they defaulted on that vendor payment, so I guess not.
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Old 03-14-2018, 07:45 AM   #63
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The problem with Toys R us is they loaded themselves down with debt around 2008. Before that they were nearly debt free. I looked at their financials and they have not had much of a dip in sales. They’re pretty steady foe a retail store.

I thought maybe they could work it out with creditors, but they defaulted on that vendor payment, so I guess not.
What did TRU do in 2008 to take on such debt?
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Old 03-14-2018, 04:23 PM   #64
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.7fbcfb6383e6

Toys R Us to close all 800 of its us stores
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Old 03-14-2018, 04:48 PM   #65
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Goodbye old friend.
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Old 03-14-2018, 05:14 PM   #66
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I'm an employee there and can confirm. Conference call happened an hour after I left today. Was told by a co-worker the plan is to try and save 100 stores and to liquidate everything in 60 days.
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Old 03-14-2018, 05:32 PM   #67
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Also I thought that article said someone was interested in purchasing 400 of the stores and keeping the Toys R Us name. Did I read that wrong?
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Old 03-14-2018, 05:35 PM   #68
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As my friend on twitter put it. Toys R Us was always overpriced, Selection was terrible and you could go to Walmart Target or Amazon and get the same thing for half of what TRU wanted you to pay for
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Old 03-14-2018, 05:37 PM   #69
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Also I thought that article said someone was interested in purchasing 400 of the stores and keeping the Toys R Us name. Did I read that wrong?
One goal is to keep 200 US stores with the Canadian ones under a Canadian buyer, the other is for one of the vendors to buy 400 of the stores and keep them around. Who knows if the latter will happen.
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Old 03-14-2018, 05:44 PM   #70
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Any idea how long the existing stores will be kept open? My daughter got a $200 gift card for Toys 'R' Us on Christmas and we still haven't used it.
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Old 03-14-2018, 06:14 PM   #71
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What did TRU do in 2008 to take on such debt?
They were purchased by a private equity firm which immediately cashed out its investment by adding $5.8 million in debt to their balance sheet. That’s what killed them. Even with Amazon and other competiton, they wouldn’t have died without all that debt.
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Old 03-14-2018, 06:15 PM   #72
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“Toys R Us gift cards could be useless in a matter of weeks”

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Any idea how long the existing stores will be kept open? My daughter got a $200 gift card for Toys 'R' Us on Christmas and we still haven't used it.
My GF is going to use our kids gift card tomorrow and pick him up something. Was also a Christmas gift. Not taking any chances.

“When Borders began liquidating its stores in July 2011, about 17.7 million gift cards were left outstanding.”

https://m.sfgate.com/technology/busi...c-12209562.php
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Old 03-14-2018, 06:15 PM   #73
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Any idea how long the existing stores will be kept open? My daughter got a $200 gift card for Toys 'R' Us on Christmas and we still haven't used it.
Don't think there's an ETA just yet, but making use of it soon would probably be in y'alls best interest to be safe.
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Old 03-14-2018, 06:20 PM   #74
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They were purchased by a private equity firm which immediately cashed out its investment by adding $5.8 million in debt to their balance sheet. That’s what killed them. Even with Amazon and other competiton, they wouldn’t have died without all that debt.
So a private equity firm which was already in debt bought Toys R' Us?

Its a shame. I still go to to Toys R' Us to look for TMNT figures or Christmas stuff. Granted its 3 to 4 times a year not monthly like I was as a kid in the 90s'. Many memories from playing in the Play School display to Pok'emon card tournaments!
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Old 03-14-2018, 06:40 PM   #75
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Simplified version of the story is TRUs went on sale and in order to acquire it, the buyer went into a lot of debt to get it. This was no problem when TRU was making enough money to pay the rather big sum of money it bought TRU for. The problem was a lot of their sales were from Baby stuff and when Amazon and others took that turf TRU just couldnt pay their loan anymore.

Toys sales were never horrible despite "kids not playing with toys", I mean they also sold video games, its just that toys alone couldnt pay the loan and the loan was gotten to acquire TRU.


Its definitely an end of an era I loved going to my TRU and would go every saturday when they had their Pokemon League for the TCG. I always preordered games there to get exclusive stuff and it always felt magical. I used to have a Im a TRU kid sweater as a child. They even gave special boxes with small gifts inside back in the days of video games behind paper prices.

Without KB Toys, there just wont be a magical place for kids to go to anymore.
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Old 03-14-2018, 06:49 PM   #76
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We millennials do a lot of our shopping online now. I can't remember the last time I went to a store to buy a videogame or a toy.

To be honest I wonder what this means for future TMNT cartoons. They just revealed the new Rise of TMNT figures...and now Toys R us is closing before they're even released. Now they only have what...Walmart and Target to release in?
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Old 03-14-2018, 07:26 PM   #77
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Just makes me a little ill to think of my one and only local Toys R Us gone... Not sure how long it's been there, but I can't remember it not being there in that building. If some did get saved somehow, I wish it would be among them...

A lot of things are claimed to supposedly "ruin" childhood, but this... Yeah, this one is kinda real. Maybe there is Walmart, Target, etc. (or maybe no etc), but their selections are limited. Online... sure, but it hardly compares to a kid stepping foot in a store, choosing something on their own, and getting to take it home right then and there. The internet may have a wider selection, but the shopping is kinda hallow in comparison...



My total sympathy, The Deadman, if you stick with it until the end through liquidation, and to all employees that do. From experience... it's like Black Friday hell that lasts for months instead of one day. (And, at least for us, can't help but feeling a little sore that people are finally interested in shopping in a place now that jobs will be lost... But I've at least talked to quite a few kind customers that have wished us well.) Kind of makes me want to stop in mine once all that starts, at least to have a last look around, and offer my condolences from one closing store employee to others...



And Andrew, I'd use that gift card pronto. Supposedly the UK stores already stopped accepting them, so who knows how long it will go for the U.S. Even if it's usable throughout liquidation (though not guaranteed), imo I'd get in there before anything your daughter actually wants is gone.

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Old 03-14-2018, 09:01 PM   #78
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I remember their huge aisles of TMNT figures in the '80s and '90s at $3.69 a pop. They're really the last "big" one of my childhood toy stores left. Kaybee, Children's Palace, Kiddie City, Family Toy Warehouse are all long gone. Alas, all good things must come to an end.
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Old 03-14-2018, 10:17 PM   #79
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This will have a huge impact on the toy industry, maybe not so much this year but next year we'll see more of the outcome. It'll affect all companies, especially smaller ones like say NECA. Companies are already losing money on figures since TRU is asking them for a discount and they have to take the loss because the alternative is they get nothing from product already "sold" to TRU.

Remember when all lines became 3.75 after the financial crisis?
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Old 03-14-2018, 11:42 PM   #80
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Any idea how long the existing stores will be kept open? My daughter got a $200 gift card for Toys 'R' Us on Christmas and we still haven't used it.
I got one of my cousins a $25 gift card for Christmas, and I still don't know if he has ever used it yet. If anything, there are places where you can just cash the gift card if it ever becomes too late to use it at a TRU store. I recommend raise.com.
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