Toys R Us files for chapter 11 bankruptcy

[[McD] James]

Just to briefly clarify this situation, a company filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy isn't the same thing as a company going out of business. A chapter 11 bankruptcy filing signals that a company owes a large sum of money to its creditors, and requires government assistance in reconstructive downsizing. Stocks become officially unlisted, but over the counter trading is still allowed. The government and said company then work together towards paying off the company's creditors, followed by its shareholders. It is possible for a company to bounce back from a chapter 11 filing, but it's rare. 

 

In the case of Toys R Us, however, I just don't see it happening. There's a Toys R Us location that's an 8 minute walk from where I live, and every time I walk by it's virtually empty inside. Given just how much inventory these stores house, I really can't look at them as anything other than white elephants. Online shopping has made things a lot easier and more affordable for many of us, but such upsides will always have their downsides. 

 

I haven't had any reason to step inside a Toys R Us in a very long time, but for many of us, visiting a Toys R Us was often a joyful experience. I remember picking out Bart Simpson's Cupcake Crisis as a birthday present one year, and snagging an unused copy of Mortal Kombat for the SNES when it was on sale for $9.99 Canadian. We should all take a moment to fondly reflect upon this timeless slice of Americana. 

 

 

[Red]

i can already see the headlines 

 

"Millennials killing Toys R Us?"

[Arctangent]

15 minutes ago, Red said:

i can already see the headlines 

 

"Millennials killing Toys R Us?"

crosses that off her generation's hitlist

[Csonicgo]

Toys R Us once had a huge electronics section, which shrunk considerably after the Home Computer market started to wind down. Probably not the best move they could have made. what once was 1/4th of the store is now shoved into a small, understaffed, understocked corner somewhere. Over the years, instead of catering to all ages, I've seen the demographic they cater to shrink as their "Babies R Us" market grew - which was also hit by the Great Recession, for obvious reasons.

 

They've also "shrunk" in size, from once large displays and the like to cramped, cluttered aisles. It went from exciting to embarrassing to go in there. 

[geo]

My Toys R Us is packed with people, but its outside of one of the major malls in the state. My Toys R Us location was always sheer chaos walking in due to the amount of people and children running around. I've seen a lot of fights between children in my Toys R Us especially at the train display.

 

With that said, the other Toys R Us in my area have closed their doors 15 or so years ago. Going there now, they have Babies R Us inside when Babies R Us used to be its own store. That's usually a bad sign.

 

Their prices are more expensive than anywhere else, but they have the largest selection. I'm not sure why anyone would go there due to how expensive it is when Walmart is right there  in their area. Target is there and it gets exclusive toys as well.

 

When Walmart and video game stores have video games and children's DVDs, that kills Toys R Us as well.

 

Lego seems to help put a nail in the coffin as Lego has its own stores now and Lego in my area seems to consume an entire isle or more of Walmart, Target and Miejer. My Toys R Us had 3 or 4 full isles of Lego (perhaps the isle are shorter). At Christmas it had an even bigger section. I assume when you have 3 - 4 isles of Lego and people can just go to a Lego store that will hurt business as well... not to mention cheaper prices.

Edited September 19, 2017 by geo

[Nevander]

I remember running in and going straight to the army/military toy section and just being in awe, then begging for one of them like a spoiled brat. What sucks now is I have the money to buy what I want but now I don't want toys. What kind of cruel irony is this?

[UglyStru]

8 minutes ago, Nevander said:

I remember running in and going straight to the army/military toy section and just being in awe, then begging for one of them like a spoiled brat. What sucks now is I have the money to buy what I want but now I don't want toys. What kind of cruel irony is this?

LOL this was me 100%. When I was between the ages of 6 and 10, my friend and I played a lot of Doom and Wolfenstein and loved all the war movies (his dad was a WW2 memorabilia collector). Everytime we had any leftover money, we'd beg our parents to take us to Toys R Us to buy all those cool military guns. We had full arsenals of M16s, Cap Gun Revolvers, MP5s, etc. I remember they had those motors in them where you crank the slider back on the gun and when you pulled the trigger it made that loud shooting noise. Those were the simpler times :( 

 

It's okay because I moved onto airsoft now which is much more fun :p 

[Flesh420]

1 hour ago, Nevander said:

I remember running in and going straight to the army/military toy section and just being in awe, then begging for one of them like a spoiled brat. What sucks now is I have the money to buy what I want but now I don't want toys. What kind of cruel irony is this?

Toys evolve into games as we age :)

[therektafire]

On 9/19/2017 at 10:09 AM, geo said:

Lego seems to help put a nail in the coffin as Lego has its own stores now and Lego in my area seems to consume an entire isle or more of Walmart, Target and Miejer. My Toys R Us had 3 or 4 full isles of Lego (perhaps the isle are shorter). At Christmas it had an even bigger section. I assume when you have 3 - 4 isles of Lego and people can just go to a Lego store that will hurt business as well... not to mention cheaper prices

Huh, I'd have figured kids block based building games like Roblox and Minecraft would have cut into Legos profits at least a little. After all why potentially pay large amounts of money on lego sets (not to mention lose some physical space) when you can pretty much build anything you want on pc for either free or really cheap? I tried out roblox when I was younger and there are actually a couple of games on there I can still tolerate, though if I had known about Doom and Doom Builder back then I would have ditched that cancerous shithole ASAP, especially since the main reason why I started playing on there to begin with is because of game dev...

[Varis Alpha]

Lego has a collectible side to it that's very sought out. I've heard of adults gathering around to buy every set of lego they can get their hands on at several stores, literally emptying aisles as they go. You can't do that with Minecraft or Roblox.

[Doomkid]

I loved Toys R Us as a kid. I was obsessed with military toys, specifically army men when I was really young, I would have had a thousand of the damn things at some point in my youth of various sizes and colors. I used to set them up in little platoons all over the house then inevitably have some giant tragedy strike the brave little soldiers down, usually an RC car or something.. Fond memories!  I also vividly recall buying a few dirt-cheap SNES games there in the mid-late part of the N64's lifespan, one of which was Beavis and Butthead which most people hate but I always had fun with it.

 

Time keeps on slippin'

[therektafire]

Speaking of army men, when I was younger I had one of the 3DO army men games for the N64, Army Men Sarge's Heroes to be precise, it is ok but it isn't the greatest 3rd person shooter ever that's for sure. It does have some decent music though. Some of the songs on the PS1 version sound kind of like the music from the 3DO doom port which I guess isn't particularly surprising. An example:

 

 

 

[Avoozl]

1 hour ago, Doomkid said:

I loved Toys R Us as a kid. I was obsessed with military toys, specifically army men when I was really young, I would have had a thousand of the damn things at some point in my youth of various sizes and colors. I used to set them up in little platoons all over the house then inevitably have some giant tragedy strike the brave little soldiers down, usually an RC car or something.. Fond memories!  I also vividly recall buying a few dirt-cheap SNES games there in the mid-late part of the N64's lifespan, one of which was Beavis and Butthead which most people hate but I always had fun with it.

 

Time keeps on slippin'

While reading your post I couldn't help but think of this particular Simpsons moment.

 

[june gloom]

Toys R Us is definitely going the way of Radio Shack these days. It's much easier to get toys from places like Walmart or online.

[geo]

12 hours ago, therektafire said:

Huh, I'd have figured kids block based building games like Roblox and Minecraft would have cut into Legos profits at least a little. After all why potentially pay large amounts of money on lego sets (not to mention lose some physical space) when you can pretty much build anything you want on pc for either free or really cheap? I tried out roblox when I was younger and there are actually a couple of games on there I can still tolerate, though if I had known about Doom and Doom Builder back then I would have ditched that cancerous shithole ASAP, especially since the main reason why I started playing on there to begin with is because of game dev...

I know it might sound crazy, but there are people that love physical goods who buy thousands of dollars worth of Lego just for one creation. Its usually $0.10 cents per part and it adds up quick. There are entire conventions and build groups that meet in person to build things. Not just one convention per year, but one per big city per year across the globe.

 

Lego has to build more factories and get into automation to keep up with the demand.

 

Not to mention Minecraft Lego. So after people spend their $10 - $20 on Minecraft, they might want something to hold in their hands.

[GeorgeCostanza94]

14 hours ago, therektafire said:

Speaking of army men, when I was younger I had one of the 3DO army men games for the N64, Army Men Sarge's Heroes to be precise, it is ok but it isn't the greatest 3rd person shooter ever that's for sure. It does have some decent music though. Some of the songs on the PS1 version sound kind of like the music from the 3DO doom port which I guess isn't particularly surprising. An example:

 

 

 

Bro, Sarge's Heroes on N64 was a big part of my childhood. Looking back,not even nostalgia can save the crap quality I see it as now, but still great memories. But it was my introduction to shooters before I moved onto FPS's like Return to Castle Woldenstein and classic Doom.

[varth]

I think I've been in a Toys R Us a few times as a kid, I remember one birthday I went in and got to pick out a Gameboy and Metroid 2, I also remember being amazed by their huge bike section. The one near me was as big as a Home Depot store, and I remember those video game cards you'd get to go get a game.

[[McD] James]

Bit of an update.

 

http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/bankruptcy-ashes-rises-toys-r-campaign/310689/

[Csonicgo]

Yeah, looks like the"using toys r us as collateral" was what caused this. Not the actual profits, although that didn't help.

[geo]

It's a literal year later, but there's an arch-vile around:

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/toys-r-us-babies-r-us-brand-comeback-in-works-as-bankruptcy-auction-canceled/

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-01/toys-r-us-lenders-plan-brand-revival-as-they-cancel-ip-auction

 

Good luck. If it failed once, it's destine to fail again.

[Nevander]

2 hours ago, geo said:

It's a literal year later

It's already been a year? What the hell.

[[McD] James]

The Toys R Us where I live is still alive, but I rarely ever see anyone inside when I walk by.

[geo]

Mine has closed... yet people still review it to bash it like it's open. I'm even googling it to confirm... closed permanently, but still has fresh reviews.

 

My local K-Mart / Super K lived long beyond the corporation's demise.

Edited October 4, 2018 by geo

[Armaetus]

I don't know if the one near me closed but I am certain it did when stores shuttered around here.

[Job]

Glanced at the title and thought it said "Tokes R Us."