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Toys 'R' Us will coming back X-Mas 2019, with 6 smaller stores

El Bombastico

El Bombastico

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
36,125
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...AuYXumg1S7k7rsUewL_OT7nNlnG-hdMVPgj03DpntNuzA

About a year after shuttering U.S. operations, the remnant of the defunct toy chain is set to return this holiday season by opening about a half dozen U.S. stores and an e-commerce site, according to people familiar with the matter.
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The stores are slated to be about 10,000-square feet, roughly a third of the size of the brand's big-box outlets that closed last year, the people said. The locations will also have more experiences, like play areas. The startup costs could be minimized with a consignment inventory model in which toymakers ship goods but don't get paid until consumers buy them, some of the people said.
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It remains to be seen how much of a boost the retailer's comeback will provide the toy industry, including giants such as Hasbro Inc. and Mattel Inc. The original Toys "R" Us, the only national toy chain, left a huge hole when it went under. It had been generating about $7 billion in sales a year in the U.S. through more than 700 locations, including the Babies "R" Us brand.
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On the one hand, glad TRU is back. But the smaller store format and business model makes me think this won't last. I hope I'm wrong...
 
Sectorseven

Sectorseven

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,560
Play areas you say?

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SatoAilDarko

SatoAilDarko

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,843
6 stores isn't really coming back it's more a limited experiment.

Only a third of the size and play areas/experiences cutting into that. So their actually toy selection won't be much bigger than what's already available at Target and Walmart? The thing Toys R Us had was a greater selection so this definitely doesn't have any wide appeal.
 
Wulfric

Wulfric

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,974
I'm sure the brand plenty of value

I'm interested to hear where they plan to put these stores
 
Unknownlight

Unknownlight

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 2, 2017
10,652
I was really surprised that Toys R Us Canada didn't close with the US stores. I live in Vancouver, and there's still a bunch of them open here.
 
NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
54,670
it's like they are still not convinced most people have no interest in or use for a dedicated toy store.

The description does make it sound almost like a pop up though, so maybe there won't be too much overhead. Imagine if Toys R Us' just start popping up every year around Christmas, temporarily taking over empty buildings like those Spirit Halloween stores.
 
TheMan

TheMan

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,264
data west said:
Toys R Us deserved to die.

Overpriced, crowded, shitty
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hold up. My understanding is that TRU was profitable, but their books were fucked when they were bought by Bain capital and TRU was forced to take on a lot of extra debt.

Also is "crowded" a bad thing for a store? Crowded = money so why would that mean the business should die?
 
poptire

poptire

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
10,149
I'm cool with them reopening since my memory of playing Mario 64 for the first time in a Toys R Us is one of my favorites.
 
smurfx

smurfx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,638
NinjaScooter said:
it's like they are still not convinced most people have no interest in or use for a dedicated toy store.

The description does make it sound almost like a pop up though, so maybe there won't be too much overhead. Imagine if Toys R Us' just start popping up every year around Christmas, temporarily taking over empty buildings like those Spirit Halloween stores.
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hell they can even team up and scout buildings together. toys r us coming in after halloween would be smart. one of those halloween stores took over my local toys r us store which still hasnt been rented out.
 
Shedinja

Shedinja

Member
Nov 30, 2017
1,815
TheMan said:
hold up. My understanding is that TRU was profitable, but their books were fucked when they were bought by Bain capital and TRU was forced to take on a lot of extra debt.

Also is "crowded" a bad thing for a store? Crowded = money so why would that mean the business should die?
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Just as they did to KB Toys about a decade earlier.
 
Supercrap

Supercrap

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,355
Oakland Bay Area
Their website was improving when they went under. They need to give the customers a reason to goto the store and build up the loyalty program. I hope they can learn and make a good go at it
 
EYEL1NER

EYEL1NER

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,800
I got really excited to see the news but six stores isn't really anything. I won't gen anywhere near one.
 
Vern

Vern

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
5,097
I worked at Toys R Us in college like 2005-07 or so. It was not the greatest job but I had some fun co-workers and an awesome store director. We had a lot of fun there. And there were plenty of great stories. The most memorable for me besides almost being stabbed was the tweaker mom that used to come in with her little ones and try to offer me "services" in exchange for toys and diapers. The best was when she flashed me her saggy tattooed disgusting tits while we were next to the RC planes and cars and I had to ask her to stop coming in and harassing me.

Also despite the shitty pay they were a good company to work for. As a basic employee I got insurance and a retirement plan with some matching, and I got annual bonus every year at the holidays. I think the most I got was like $150 but it was better than could be expected at a shitty retail store.

I'm glad they are coming back even in limited capacity.
 
GKSilKamina

GKSilKamina

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,529
Festering Swamp, USA
TheMan said:
hold up. My understanding is that TRU was profitable, but their books were fucked when they were bought by Bain capital and TRU was forced to take on a lot of extra debt.
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This was my understanding of the situation as well. I mean, hell, a year or two before the closure all the TRU stores in my area underwent massive renovations. Compare that to all the local Sears/Kmart stores which were in shambles before getting shuttered. TRU must've been making enough profit to invest in renovations, right?

While the TRU I worked at only got busy on the weekends and holidays, we usually made sales goals during the weekdays thanks to being the only decent place in town outside of Walmart/Target to buy baby stuff. (And my store was one of the less busy ones.) The Bain Capital thing really fucked everything up.
 
Aftermath

Aftermath

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,756
Back from beyond the Grave!


E14-AD250-85-D7-4798-B585-E60-B221486-B2.jpg


"There's Millions dead Geoffrey 6 Feet Under All Roofs, it's Called Toys R us! It's alive, it's alive "
 
SpankyDoodle

SpankyDoodle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,082
NinjaScooter said:
it's like they are still not convinced most people have no interest in or use for a dedicated toy store.
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Uh
The original Toys "R" Us, the only national toy chain, left a huge hole when it went under. It had been generating about $7 billion in sales a year in the U.S. through more than 700 locations, including the Babies "R" Us brand.
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The reason their died had nothing to do with Toys R Us and everything to do with the company that bought them drowning them with insurmountable debt. TRU was fine. Though I do agree with the posts calling them fucking filthy as shit inside, I don't know if I've ever been in a Toys R Us that felt clean and I would never ever buy a plush anything from one.
 
Dynamite Cop

Dynamite Cop

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,002
California
They've been opening up temporary holiday shops in local malls for at least the past 5 years in my area, so I guess they never really died.

This isnt new.
 
Curler

Curler

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,625
Canadian TRU still seem to be doing well when I poked around last year.

Yeah, they overpriced a lot of stuff (Pokemon cards were automatically $5-10 over MSRP... just cause), but they did carry stuff harder to find at Walmart/Target.

Only 6 though?? Weird...
 

Deleted member 1086

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,796
Boise Area, Idaho
still got an empty one in an otherwise heavily trafficked shopping area here. Would be great if they could manage to move right back on in, though it looks like they are looking for smaller storefronts.
 
Curler

Curler

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,625
Dishwalla said:
still got an empty one in an otherwise heavily trafficked shopping area here. Would be great if they could manage to move right back on in, though it looks like they are looking for smaller storefronts.
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Same. Mine left a large hole that no one wanted to lease with anything new yet :/
 
Officer Beefsteak

Officer Beefsteak

Member
Oct 27, 2017
570
Don't plan to support any type of TRU revival, they closed all those stores and all those people lost their jobs just for them to say we're gonna keep the name and open new stores later.
 
Sieffre

Sieffre

Member
Oct 27, 2017
788
United States
Toys R Us simply got destroyed by fucking venture capital companies. Basically, big firm takes out a huge loan to buy the company, now the company is bought and saddled with the debt of that huge loan and goes under from interest payments. Hooray capitalism.
 
OP
OP
El Bombastico

El Bombastico

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
36,125
Dishwalla said:
still got an empty one in an otherwise heavily trafficked shopping area here. Would be great if they could manage to move right back on in, though it looks like they are looking for smaller storefronts.
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Curler said:
Same. Mine left a large hole that no one wanted to lease with anything new yet :/
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Same with my Toys R Us, its just a big empty space now. Its a big problem with these huge specialty stores when they go under now, no one else can really use that space because other specialty stores are also doing poorly right now (except for Best Buy it seems).

My local Barnes and Noble also closed down in late 2016 and it STILL has not been rented out by another store.
 
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