After disappointing holiday season, Toys R Us has plans to close 180 US stores - Sensationalist Headlines

[quote]Toys R Us is planning to shutter roughly 180 stores across the country, or about one-fifth of its U.S. store fleet, in a bid to restructure the company and emerge from bankruptcy protection. The closures still need court approval, documents show, but management is planning to shut the locations beginning in early February and running through mid-April. "The reinvention of our brands requires that we make tough decisions about our priorities and focus," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Brandon wrote Tuesday in a memo to customers. "The actions we are taking are necessary to give us the best chance to emerge from our bankruptcy proceedings as a more viable and competitive company." The Wayne, New Jersey-based retailer added that a number of its existing locations will be co-branded as Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores. Just four months ago and before the holiday shopping season, Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy protection as its sales were waning and debt was piling up. The toy chain faces increased competition from the likes of Amazon, Walmart and Target, and it's struggled meeting consumers' needs online. The president of Toys R Us Canada, Melanie Teed-Murch, said in a separate memo that the 83 locations in Canada won't be impacted by Tuesday's news. [/quote] [url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/24/toys-r-us-to-close-180-stores-across-the-us.html]CNBC[/url]

Frankly TRU is too expensive. Nerf guns there are $5-$10 more than Target or K-mart, and $15 more than Walmart, let alone online stores. It's like this across the board.

[QUOTE=Trekintosh;53077743]Frankly TRU is too expensive. Nerf guns there are $5-$10 more than Target or K-mart, and $15 more than Walmart, let alone online stores. It's like this across the board.[/QUOTE] iirc lego has considered pulling all their toys from them for selling too far above the MSRP

Toys Rnt Us

If I can get free shipping and lower prices right on Amazon what's the point? I can see why they're failing. Not to mention it reminds me of the shit movie theaters and Papa Johns pull. They're not happy with the lack of business so they think increasing the prices or having higher prices are good ideas.

toys r us storefronts all have a weird liminal space vibe nowadays and they creep me the hell out. I haven't gone there to get toys for relatives in a long time and even the few times I've been there in recent memory it seemed like despite being so huge, they didn't have anything extraordinary above the average Target

The Toys R Us that I grew up with is one of the 180 being closed. I used to love going there as a child, even knowing I couldn't buy much of anything at all, just looking at what toys are out there was enjoyable to me. It's really saddening, but I also saw this coming a while ago. Our economy sucks, it's becoming more and more difficult for middle/lower class to afford to live, prices on everything keep rising with minimum wage/wages in general not rising to compensate, with less being spent on luxury items(toys) and more being spent on education/housing/food/medical. And ontop of that, those that CAN afford toys are still mostly looking for the cheapest prices, which is online and not at a retail store like TRU. It's a viscious cycle similar to what the movie theater industry is going through, where ticket prices keep rising, which pushes more customers away, which lowers profit and makes theaters rise ticket prices more etc. Unfortunately I see this getting much worse before things get better. Seems like we're on the fast track towards an economic depression/recession, where many businesses will fail because there won't be customers that can afford their pricing, and remaining companies being forced to lower pricing to a sustainable level along with wage adjustments. I'm honestly scared for what our future holds, in terms of economics right now. People are going to get desperate if things don't change for the better. Also on more serious note, can anyone recommend me a new Yu-Gi-Oh card tournament hotspot in Pittsburgh? Mine's closing down apparently and I need a new hookup to fuel my d-d-d-d-dueling habits and to pay off my crippling d-d-d-d-debts :(

I went into a Toys R Us during the 2016 holiday season, first time I had been in there since I was a kid. They had maybe two employees while I was there, one was at the desk, one was a manager who came out to tell a customer they can't price match and that was it. Otherwise the place was completely destroyed. Open packages everywhere, packages with missing items. Everything was simply thrown about the place. They had a clearance "rack" that looked like someone dumped a bucket of used toys on it and called it a day. It looked like a Walmart after black-friday.

it's sad since yeah i remember going into these stores when i was REALLY young, but at the same time I'm amazed they're even still in business anymore given the rise of online shopping and ofc Walmart. I doubt they'll last much longer.

I'm glad that the two near me are staying open, they have the biggest selection of Lego besides the Lego store that's about an hour away. It's the only reason I still go to be honest.

[QUOTE=Solece;53077825]The Toys R Us that I grew up with is one of the 180 being closed. I used to love going there as a child, even knowing I couldn't buy much of anything at all, just looking at what toys are out there was enjoyable to me. It's really saddening, but I also saw this coming a while ago. Our economy sucks, it's becoming more and more difficult for middle/lower class to afford to live, prices on everything keep rising with minimum wage/wages in general not rising to compensate, with less being spent on luxury items(toys) and more being spent on education/housing/food/medical. And ontop of that, those that CAN afford toys are still mostly looking for the cheapest prices, which is online and not at a retail store like TRU. It's a viscious cycle similar to what the movie theater industry is going through, where ticket prices keep rising, which pushes more customers away, which lowers profit and makes theaters rise ticket prices more etc. Unfortunately I see this getting much worse before things get better. Seems like we're on the fast track towards an economic depression/recession, where many businesses will fail because there won't be customers that can afford their pricing, and remaining companies being forced to lower pricing to a sustainable level along with wage adjustments. I'm honestly scared for what our future holds, in terms of economics right now. People are going to get desperate if things don't change for the better. Also on more serious note, can anyone recommend me a new Yu-Gi-Oh card tournament hotspot in Pittsburgh? Mine's closing down apparently and I need a new hookup to fuel my d-d-d-d-dueling habits and to pay off my crippling d-d-d-d-debts :([/QUOTE] It isn't so much people per say, but the companies. None of them are willing to adjust and change their strategy. You can't expect people to shop at your store if the prices are higher then other stores. For example, best buy was struggling not to long ago and their prices were pretty high. They had price match and that was fine, but eventually they figured it out and price their stuff to what is normally the lowest you can find.

kids these days don't play with toys any more I feel like they're all about their playbox 360's gizmo thingys

I remember as a kid their toys were far, far too expensive. Like, Significantly more than other stores.

[QUOTE=MR-X;53077968]It isn't so much people per say, but the companies. None of them are willing to adjust and change their strategy. You can't expect people to shop at your store if the prices are higher then other stores. For example, best buy was struggling not to long ago and their prices were pretty high. They had price match and that was fine, but eventually they figured it out and price their stuff to what is normally the lowest you can find.[/QUOTE] It's also the fact that corporate greed is at an incomprehensibly high level. Companies expect (and demand) more money than ever from every single customer, for the least of things. Whether it be toys, coffee, internet, tires, doctors, and everything in between, companies want to charge the absolute highest amount that they can possibly legally get away with, and once they start charging that high price, they expect to always maintain that high profit margin. They pay as little as possible to employees and hoarde as much as they can for the top 1%. Sales aren't doing as well as expected? Raise prices! That doesn't work well enough? Cut jobs and/or benefits! Still cutting into profits? File for bankruptcy, blame consumers, raise prices again, or literally ANYTHING else before choosing to cut their own paygrade and lower the millions that they themselves make yearly. It's fucking horrendous, and really sad because long-term they would actually make more money by minimizing the wage-gap because it would mean more consumers would be able to afford more products, instead of fighting just for food and a place to live. But massive companies would rather gouge every penny possible out of every human being, and make as much as possible short-term for themselves rather than think about the future. And they also expect to be able to maintain those short-term strategies for long-term periods, and blame consumers when this turns out to not be sustainable. Megacorporations are putting our world into a REALLY dangerous place right now. I'm not at all anti-corporations, but both consumers and companies rely on a symbiotic relationship. What's happening now in the world isn't symbiotic, it's parasitic. Large companies are literally killing people in the name of greed, instead of providing products fairly that improve everyone's lives at reasonable prices. And said companies have so much money that they can afford to pay off as many politicians as they want, in order to bend the law around their desires of making even more money. Something's gotta give. I just hope it gives in a way that doesn't result in billions of people suffering in order for these corporations to realize how unsustainable the current situation is. Boy that was a big fuckin' rant, I need sleep.. and a hug.

man I had a dream in a toys r us once

[QUOTE=Trebgarta;53078486][B]How Private Equity Killed "Toys R Us"[/B] [URL="http://inthesetimes.com/article/20600/how-private-equity-killed-toys-r-us"]Read More[/URL][/QUOTE] I don't think that source is impartial at all. Eg they criticise Toys R Us for paying their debts as they fall due? What? [quote]Toys “R” Us has been paying $400 million a year to service these debts. This money could have been used to lower prices or improve the company’s website—not to mention raising pay to its employees—but instead went to paying off creditors. Last year, the company reported a loss of $29 million. If it weren’t for these debt payments, Toys “R” Us would have run a substantial profit.[/quote] [url]https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/in-these-times/[/url] [img]https://i2.wp.com/mediabiasfactcheck.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/left8.png?ssl=1[/img] [quote]These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward liberal causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports and omit reporting of information that may damage liberal causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy. See all Left Bias sources.[/quote]

[QUOTE=Solece;53077825]The Toys R Us that I grew up with is one of the 180 being closed. I used to love going there as a child, even knowing I couldn't buy much of anything at all, just looking at what toys are out there was enjoyable to me. It's really saddening, but I also saw this coming a while ago. Our economy sucks, it's becoming more and more difficult for middle/lower class to afford to live, prices on everything keep rising with minimum wage/wages in general not rising to compensate, with less being spent on luxury items(toys) and more being spent on education/housing/food/medical. And ontop of that, those that CAN afford toys are still mostly looking for the cheapest prices, which is online and not at a retail store like TRU. It's a viscious cycle similar to what the movie theater industry is going through, where ticket prices keep rising, which pushes more customers away, which lowers profit and makes theaters rise ticket prices more etc. Unfortunately I see this getting much worse before things get better. Seems like we're on the fast track towards an economic depression/recession, where many businesses will fail because there won't be customers that can afford their pricing, and remaining companies being forced to lower pricing to a sustainable level along with wage adjustments. I'm honestly scared for what our future holds, in terms of economics right now. People are going to get desperate if things don't change for the better. Also on more serious note, can anyone recommend me a new Yu-Gi-Oh card tournament hotspot in Pittsburgh? Mine's closing down apparently and I need a new hookup to fuel my d-d-d-d-dueling habits and to pay off my crippling d-d-d-d-debts :([/QUOTE] you went down the totally wrong path there (and a very emotional, distraught path), less about the state of the economy and more about their competitors, change of tastes, buying habits and so on. people are still spending billions on luxuries every year, that hasn't changed

[QUOTE=Solece;53077825]The Toys R Us that I grew up with is one of the 180 being closed. I used to love going there as a child, even knowing I couldn't buy much of anything at all, just looking at what toys are out there was enjoyable to me. It's really saddening, but I also saw this coming a while ago.[/QUOTE] The one near my house already closed months ago. I don't recommend going near the tail-end of the liquidation, because it was hard walking in with my memories being smashed in front of me.

last time I walked around in Toys R Us, which was less than a year ago, they were still selling PS2 games for $30-40 in the video game aisle

[QUOTE=FFStudios;53079094]last time I walked around in Toys R Us, which was less than a year ago, they were still selling PS2 games for $30-40 in the video game aisle[/QUOTE] To be fair, I can still go to Walmart and buy a few PS2 games last I saw.

Stores will now be renamed to "Toys Were Us"

Just a little distinction, a bunch of the locations on here are Babies R Us, they didn't bother to make a distinction in their publishing.

[QUOTE=Solece;53077825]The Toys R Us that I grew up with is one of the 180 being closed. I used to love going there as a child, even knowing I couldn't buy much of anything at all, just looking at what toys are out there was enjoyable to me. It's really saddening, but I also saw this coming a while ago. Our economy sucks, it's becoming more and more difficult for middle/lower class to afford to live, prices on everything keep rising with minimum wage/wages in general not rising to compensate, with less being spent on luxury items(toys) and more being spent on education/housing/food/medical. And ontop of that, those that CAN afford toys are still mostly looking for the cheapest prices, which is online and not at a retail store like TRU. It's a viscious cycle similar to what the movie theater industry is going through, where ticket prices keep rising, which pushes more customers away, which lowers profit and makes theaters rise ticket prices more etc. Unfortunately I see this getting much worse before things get better. Seems like we're on the fast track towards an economic depression/recession, where many businesses will fail because there won't be customers that can afford their pricing, and remaining companies being forced to lower pricing to a sustainable level along with wage adjustments. I'm honestly scared for what our future holds, in terms of economics right now. People are going to get desperate if things don't change for the better. Also on more serious note, can anyone recommend me a new Yu-Gi-Oh card tournament hotspot in Pittsburgh? Mine's closing down apparently and I need a new hookup to fuel my d-d-d-d-dueling habits and to pay off my crippling d-d-d-d-debts :([/QUOTE] Fellow Pittsburgher here. I'm not sure if they do it, but the Toys R Us in Robinson (the one right next to Ikea) is staying open. Maybe check there? The only two card places I know of around me are The Gamemasters Realm in Hopewell and Big Bang Comics in Sewickley. I don't think they d-d-d-d-do Yu-Gi-Oh though. Also, I'm not a card game person.

Sad to see what was once one of the best places in the world from a child's point of view, forced to shut down because of changing market conditions that render them redundant.

[QUOTE=Demache;53079417]To be fair, I can still go to Walmart and buy a few PS2 games last I saw.[/QUOTE] The last Walmart PS2 games were maybe a singing game and the GTA trilogy, and neither of those games cost more than $15 on clearance. Toys R Us was selling PS2 games for double that

I remember when I was little my parents would take me and my brother to one of the huge Toys R Us stores and let us walk around and pick out an appropriately priced toy if we had been good. Part of the treat was being able to look in awe at all the toys and other things they had on display. Also I remember pre-ordering the original 60GB PS3 (Yeah the expensive as fuck one, I was a Sony fan boy before I built my own PC) at the same store and made my parents come with me for the midnight release lol.

[QUOTE=ss1234;53078055]kids these days don't play with toys any more I feel like they're all about their playbox 360's gizmo thingys[/QUOTE] The console is making me feel closer to driving a fast car or fighting off aliens than a toy ever could. It's actually showing me what it could look like.

adapt or die [editline]25th January 2018[/editline] wait this is just a toy store I've never even shopped at why do I care? Now KB Toys. [I]That[/I] was a toy store.

Glad I work at corporate.

I worked at the Portland, ME store they're closing over the holiday and yeah, other than grandparents who don't know how to use the internet, store was dead empty about 70% of the time. Doesn't help place was always absolutely disgusting, having the same shelves with yellowed paint that were there in the 80's or something.