Toys R Us to close all 800 of its U.S. stores

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

Toy store chain Toys R Us is planning to sell or close all 800 of its U.S. stores, affecting as many as 33,000 jobs as the company winds down its operations after six decades, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The news comes six months after the retailer filed for bankruptcy. The company has struggled to pay down nearly $8 billion in debt — much of it dating back to a 2005 leveraged buyout — and has had trouble finding a buyer. There were reports earlier this week that Toys R Us had stopped paying its suppliers, which include the country’s largest toy makers. On Wednesday, the company announced it would close all 100 of its U.K. stores. In the United States, the company told employees closures would occur over time, and not all at once, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations.

Toys R Us, once the country’s preeminent toy retailer, has been unable to keep up with big-box and online competitors. The recent holiday season dealt another blow to the embattled company, which struggled to find its footing even as the retail industry racked up its largest gains in years. In January, Toys R Us announced it would close 182 U.S. stores, or about one-fifth of its remaining locations.

Despite turnaround efforts at Toys R Us, which included adding more hands-on “play labs,” retail experts say the 60-year-old company has been unable to get customers back into its stores. It doesn’t offer the low prices or convenience of some of its larger competitors, nor the fun-filled experience that many smaller outfits do, some analysts have said.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/03/14/toys-r-us-to-close-all-800-of-its-u-s-stores/?utm_term=.7c7bb3e40e2e

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This was pretty much expected.

[rurallib]

1. Vulture capitalists claim a victim, media will probably blame "internet shopping"

Lots of other companies in this situation like Macy's.

This is what Mitt Romney's day job used to be.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Yup

It's sad. Here in Philly I remember growing up with Kiddy City and they went away. Toys R Us seemed to offer a good replacement here but they started shutting down stores around here. I suppose this makes Walmart happy (at least in the brick and mortar realm).

[Blue_Tires]

3. +1

[kysrsoze]

4. :( Was hoping theyd find a buyer. I did note the article...

Says they are looking to seek some or all of their stores, so it’s possible there will be something left of the chain. If some Radio Shacks are still open, anything is possible.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Yeah I think they said they would do a phased close down.

You might have some other retailer decide to pick up some of their large warehouse-type stores to maybe do small chain toy sales.

[blugbox]

6. One of my happiest childhood memories

Was when my dad got a bonus at work, so my parents took my sister and I to Toys R Us and let us each spend $250 on anything we wanted. To me at that age, I was the king of the world...

And this story is also where times have changed... I remember buying a few "toys", but my big purchase, and the only one I have memories of, was an entire scale model train set. I picked everything, like the train cars, the trees, the town... everything. It was fun to build the set and the diorama, and I had it for years and years.

They don't sell stuff like that anymore. I remember that Toys R Us was superior to everywhere else because they had hobby items as well as toys for all ages. I remember being excited to grow into the "big kid" stuff.

Now they just carry the same exact stuff as anyone else, so it feels no different than going to Wal-Mart or Target. Very sad, and a childhood memory I will always cherish. They did it to themselves though, I believe.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. You have to pretty much go online to get the "big kids" (expensive) hobby stuff

like the (model) planes, trains, and automobiles.

[blugbox]

11. Yep

Unless you are lucky enough to have a local hobby shop. But those are few and far between sadly.

[SergeStorms]

7. USA! USA! USA!

MAGA! MAGA! MAGA! MAGA! MAGA!

Wall Street is getting a little antsy again, too. The Orange Skidmark has everyone shitting bricks about his "easy to win" trade war.

[C Moon]

9. I wonder how Johnny Johnson will feel about this?

[dbackjon]

10. 90% the fault of the Leveraged Buyout.

[keithbvadu2]

12. No worries... Donald will save those jobs.

Here he comes to save the dayyyyyyyyy.

That means that Dotard Trump is on the way.

[angrychair]

13. Not unless they sell coal

For little poor kids Christmas stockings. If they weren’t poor they wouldn’t get coal for being bad hombres.

[rufnear]

14. He has a plan alright...

These ex-Toys R Us employees will now be shipped to the border to start on his wall.

[classof56]

15. Sadly, you are no doubt correct.

Welcome to DU! Glad to have you on board. Stay strong!

Class

[Corgigal]

16. They were doing some smart things, a few years back.

I would being my son every Saturday to play you-gi-oh. Went for years and we met some nice friends. This was when ToysRUs was owned by the people who cared about the store. The little kids were always happy because they had so much choice. They liked to handle them and decide. The store was a mess on a daily basis, but that is just how little kids shop.

Kind of sad, some cute stories and a miracle or two, occurred there when I worked their for the two holiday seasons. My son always was blown away by the times Sq store. I also took him over to the actual FAO Schwartz. Silly little visits, but my kids remember these fondly.

Then the big bucks came in, to steal and destroy. It was accomplished.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. It's a shame I know what yugioh is

(experience from one of my nieces but she has moved on from that now)

[laserhaas]

18. Partially my fault

[TlalocW]

19. There's plenty of blame to go around

But something I always noticed about the Toys-R-Us I would visit were some of the toys meant for little kids. There was a huge display of Thomas the Tank Engine - a railroad setup that rivals some of the smaller train setups that adult (primarily) men construct in their basements. You're not going to buy that for a three-year-old Thomas buff. You're going to get a bigger, cheaper, by-himself Thomas that can take the punishment a toddler can dish out and not have any pieces that can be swallowed.

TlalocW