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

[Mio Akiyama]

If their prices were comparable to Target or Walmart maybe they wouldn't have to close those stores

[maddogsamurai]

[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]

The one I used to go to every time as a kid closed down when I was in late middle school. I would buy Bionicle sets, Star Wars, Gundam, and Transformers figures whenever we went there. 10 in figures back in the day used to be $20 when my mom wasn't retired so I'd buy like 2. I think when some popular toys had a recent spike in prices did Toys R Us begin to waver (mine closed due to theft and bad sales apparently). If some of those prices stayed, or if the economy didn't recently tank we'd be in a good balance for kids and toy enthusiasts and we'd still have our favorite place to never grow up. The worst time to close was when I was searching for THAT ONE SD GUNDAM DELUXE FIGURE right when the series was over.

Anyone got a Zapper Zaku? :cry:

[Bertie]

They sell cheap plastic toys for ludicrously expensive prices, they get what was coming for them.

[BrandoJack]

The only thing I remember getting from Toys R Us is a few Pokemon toys, a ton of Tech-Deck Dudes, including the ones that came with that "Bare Knuckle Grind" game which, has since been almost non-existent on the internet. Usually I'd just go to KB Toys because that was closer.
It's still gives me a bittersweet feeling to drive by the locations that have already closed down from when I was a kid.