Toys R Us

[Philip Ayres]

TRU survives to fight another day

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42437955

[Pinwig]

Maybe I ought to buy a Primus just to help them out.

[The Doctor]

Everyone needs a G2 Primus though in many ways it exemplifies the TRU problem. At current price of £50 it's fine but it was originally £150!!! It is not a £150 toy.

-Ralph

[browny87]

a short reprieve for them no doubt

[Philip Ayres]

Dec 7, 2017 13:54:22 GMT Philip Ayres said:

That makes interesting reading.

I'm assuming it's limited to Warehouse stores, I don't see the smaller Kingston branch anywhere on the list?

Discovered it was long gone this morning :-(

[Philip Ayres]

182 US stores to close

bwtf.com/news/toysrus-closings-2018

[browny87]

beginning of the end?

[Bogatan]

Pretty sure some childhood favourite around Florida are on that list.

Truth is that a lot of those stores are well past their best (though apparently some are brand new) and a lot of the time there are others TRU within just a few miles of them. This probably needed to happen eventually.

[primenova]

Just got MP Bumblebee £49.96 then - the £9.99 discount.

[browny87]

no wonder they are going bust, just been in the Sheffield one and armada fo cyclonus platinum £50 and the autobot heroes set £150

[The Doctor]

Hmmmm.

www.toynews-online.biz/retail/toys-r-us-seeks-uk-offers-this-week-among-fears-of-imminent-bankruptcy

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

Ack.

Not good. The future of brick and mortar retail in general is a troubling discussion.

[blueshift]

Whilst a shame, you look at their pricing and it isn't a shock they're struggling

[The Doctor]

Their stores are just not nice places to shop in. The chains that will survive are the ones that are nice to shop in. Plenty of folk like to shop in person if the store is appealing. I don't mind paying a bit more over online stores sometimes to get something that's right in front of me in a shop if it doesn't feel like a dive, which sadly TRU stores tend to feel like. Not the staff's fault.

-Ralph

[legios]

Indeed. One of the things that I have noticed this year is that the local Entertainer gets many times the footfall of the TRU. The TRU is not in the centre of town - it is on the other side of a difficult to cross road, so it is somewhere folk will only go if they are going to the retail park, there isn't any price difference to draw people out there...and now they are competing with a Smyths which is leaching off a lot of the custom that does go out there...

I'd be interested to see whether they get any takers for the UK company - especially as it feels rather like "please by this thing that is killing our company". The question is whether they can attract a bidder that actually wants to run the business, or one that simply wants to break it down for parts.

Karl

[Philip Ayres]

TRU UK go into administration

www.theguardian.com/business/2018/feb/28/toys-r-us-falls-into-administration-putting-3200-uk-jobs-at-risk

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43225248

[Benn]

Maplin, too? Wow.


We really are seeing the end of traditional shopping, aren't we?

[browny87]

yeah tis the end of an era today with both going at the same time, those industrial estates are becoming more redundant by the minute!

[The Doctor]

A real shame for the staff.

-Ralph

[Philip Ayres]

BBC: 5 reasons why TRU failed

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43210854

Meanwhile, from a few months back, How Private Equity Killed Toys “R” Us USA

inthesetimes.com/article/20600/how-private-equity-killed-toys-r-us

[Bogatan]

Pretty much agree with all of those except the out of town one. Most Symths Ive been too are at least as out of town as the nearest TRU. One factor I do wonder about is how much better off they would be if when most of the UK stores opened they had opted to buy property like the big supermarkets did instead of renting in out of town retail parks. 30 years on they'd most likely own most of the stores outright by now and the land value alone would be enough to keep them safe.

End of the day though if its prices were remotely competitive it wouldnt be in this situation. The fact they are given exclusives and instead of putting them at price to encourage people in to the store they jack them up by 25% over what is already expensive regular stock says it all.

"I stumbled on one in York - it was quite sad. The first sign you see is that they reserve the right to check your bags as you leave. That's a horrendous message in a toy shop. As a customer, you don't really feel valued.

I can not say how much this sign pissed me off everytime I saw it. And worse was the phase when the actively tried to enforce a no bags rule. If I went in with a rucksack or basically any non carrier bag I'd be asked to leave it behind the desk till I was finished. I always refused and left the store. Eventually I just stopped going because when I went I was on my way home from uni so I always had a bag on me.

[Baron B of Triple B]

That's a bit aggressive and unwelcoming and probably unnecessary but that would never have stopped me going in.

What did stop me was mostly garbage stock levels, ridiculous prices and the hassle of finding someone to serve me.

I don't drive so being out of town isn't ideal but TRU is much easier for me to get to than either Smyths but I would always just go to the extra effort of getting to Smyths.

I'm hoping Smyths keep going strong, there's no substitute for going to a shop, finding a figure you've been looking for, getting your hands on it then hurrying through the checkout so you can own it.

[Bogatan]

Also TRU price match is made as difficult as possible to get. They wont except a price on your phone even if the item shows as being available to collect from the nearest wherever. You need actual proof that the item is in that store at which point you have to ask why wouldnt you have just got the damn thing when you were taking a photo of it on the shelf with te price below it.

[Philip Ayres]

As shoppers I think we've been predicting the end of TRU for a good few years now, certainly since Smyths came into the UK market and they weren't the only warehouse toy shop anymore.

[Benn]

Toys R Us has never really been a part of my life, I don't drive, and as a kid our folks never seemed interested in travelling the half hour plus to get to the nearest (can't think why!), so I won't really miss it.

Similarly, I've never been to a Smythes.

It's not so much of a wrench for me, really. Nothing much will change.

The few times I've been to the one in Derby it's always seemed cold, overpriced and despite being overflowing, never having anything actually you want to buy. There are times when I've been surprised TRU has lasted as long as it has.

[Baron B of Triple B]

Same for me. Jolly Giant was my toy nirvana as a child and Smyths has been it as an adult.

I had no need for TRU as a child, when JG closed down I had Woolworths next to my work that i would go in at lunchtime and occasionally buy TFs, FP that id go in at the weekend and occasionally buy stuff but I wasn't collecting at the time. Would just buy the odd toy I liked.

Since I've been an adult collecting the last 18 months I've been in a few times but mostly if I was out at Asda next door, once I went out my way to go in to get CW Megatron and that's it really. If I want to go to a toy shop I'll go to Smyths.

[Bogatan]

Most of my fond memories of TRU come from holidays in America, mostly around Orlando. Even then I probably got more Transformers from Kaybee Walmart, Target and KMart.

I remember getting very excited when my local one opened and did go fairly often, but it wa somewhat tainted by working there one Christmas. It was not the nicest experience.

[reilly2040]

The Toys R Us at the Forge was always a regular haunt for me, so this is very much the end of an era. Very sad news for all the staff, but it would be interesting to see where it went wrong, while the Entertainer and Smyths are still (apparently) going strong.

Certainly the drift between the branches was noticeable. In TF-terms at least, the Forge was always pretty decent, but I got the distinct feeling that Govan had gone downhill in recent years.

[Baron B of Triple B]

You'd be lucky to see any TFs in Govan at times.

[Pinwig]

Hmm. Was intending to pop down to mine to see if I could find the PotP leaders.