Yeah,all what you said, in a perfect world.Bain Capitol shut down KB Toys and it looks like they are doing the same thing to TRU. Apparently,it's more profitable to kill and liquidate stores than to keep them open. Hasbro has already stated (at toyfair) that they are looking ahead with or without TRU. That says quite alot!

In the age of the internet and digital,where very little kids today care less about toys and action figures, a generation that doesn't need to physically enter into a brick and mortar toy store anymore and it will just continue to die a slow death.The writing is on the wall. Childhood memories isn't going to bring it back.

If they break their covenants with the lenders,then option 2 is forced company wide liquidation to pay them back.

 

Daaaaamn!!!

 

Yah know who toys r us reminds me of? Dunder Mifflin. They saw their market starting to take a nose dive, and instead of making real improvements, they tried cheap gimmicks while continuing their same old schtick. Now they’re slowly closing down. At this point, embracing a smaller business strategy is the only thing that’s going to save the brand, let alone the company. That, or like in the above example, sell out to a larger corporation...

 

It's called eating your seed corn. It's not a long-term strategy. Unless you're a locust that can move on to another field.

 

Well they are creditors, so maybe locusts are a pretty accurate comparison? It's also been my experience is that describes the liquidators themselves, too.

 

It's a shame even a toys store could like Toys R Us will be closed.

 

Liquidators are bad too but "liquidate" is right in the name and not a bald-faced lie like the "investment" preceding any number of other titles.

 

From articles I read the main reason TRU is going under is due to Bain Capital and not competition from Amazon nor Walmart/Target.

 

Alright folks, we can still discuss this without getting political. Please refrain from further political discussion.

 

Several posts have been deleted for being off topic, political in nature and insulting to most citizens of this country.

We know it's upsetting to see this happening, especially to those of us who've depended on this company for most of our collections over the years... but this is the sad state of many businesses today and probably more to come.

Now, that being said, several posts have been deleted, thread bans and infractions handed out, so please get this thread back on the topic of the TRU store closures, not every other company and/or blaming anyone in the political arena.

 

You know my only real concern is whether or not I’ll be able to get Studio Series Thundercracker. I’m sure that thing will go for insane prices now.

 

From what I've read, most companies in recent years that Bain Capital took hold of ended up bankrupt. So I think for TRU, the writing is on the wall, hence Hasbro making plans for a future without TRU. This was reinforced by research I read elsewhere that TRU's competition didn't really play a big factor in them going bankrupt compared to being led by Bain Capital.

Guess it'll take nothing short of a miracle for TRU to make it out of this, if even.

 

So, how many TRU stores will be left after these all close?

 

Half. About 400.

 

What kinds of posts about a decades-old toy retailer shuttering its stores would be insulting to citizens of this country?

I remember when my local TRU store opened in the ‘80s, and seeing it close now is disappointing. As always, it was clean, organized and full of helpful staff, which is a lot more than can be said for a certain ubiquitous supercenter retailer which I never visit, even to buy Transformers.

The 20%-off liquidation sale at TRU was tempting, but there wasn’t anything there that I really wanted, plus I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of my money lining the pockets of private equity fund “managers”. Goodbye, TRU, this loyal customer will miss you.

 

Dunno why you people in the USA have such a problem finding toys... HasbroToyShop usually lists most items sooner or later, and I believe they ship free USA-wide anywhere on orders above 50$, no? And even if they are out of stock, there are so many more online shops with free shipping options. It's not like how us in Europe have to deal with base prices that are double of the US prices, plus in-EU shipping which is not cheap either. And after Brexit, we will lose a lot of the UK toy stores like Kapowtoys too, which have the best selection on the old continent.

 

Before we simply heap blame on Bain Capital, keep in mind they seem to go after companies that are already in trouble to begin with. While they certainly play no small part in this, it can be argued both that their troubles due to Bain is hastening their demise as it can be said they've only lasted this long due to Bain. TRU was in trouble long before Bain entered the picture.
Also, people like to scream "Bain" because of it's supposed political undertones, but KKR and Vornado are also part of the partnership. The overall debt - substantially added to by it's acquisition in 2005 - is huge, and while it is down in the past five years, overall annual sales have dropped $2 billion in the past five years as well, despite additional stores.

Because people have a serious case of gotta-have-it-first, which is why you see stupid prices on eBay. Then those same people wonder why their brick-and-mortar stores are sitting on Wave 2 three or four months later, after buying theirs online.

 

From my experience b&m stores get stuff first. Some transformers, marvel legends and voltron would be on sell at stores a month or 2 before selling online. The problem is quantity some toys you have to hunt for others can easily be found. Where as online you just pre order it and wait.

 

And yet a lot of people insist on buying the early wave toys (which are guaranteed to shelfwarm three months later) because "not taking any risks".