Bleak Outlook for Toys R Us

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by TheBigBad, Jun 13, 2014.

  1. flatline72

    flatline72 Banned

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  2. TrueNomadSkies

    TrueNomadSkies Well-Known Member

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    Yeah dude, I more than agree with everything you said, and I try & buy everything that I can in TRU when it comes to things not easily found in my local comic shop because while it is a major retailer, its the only one that deals primarily in our toy market, and it'd be a real shame to see it suffer enough to go out of business or otherwise be unable to compete. I can't speak for stores other than the one in my city, but the people in there have always been helpful & seem to genuinely care (never seen them throwing boxes on the ground, etc, and one guy even made it a point to tell me about MP Soundwave that'd just come in when he saw me at customer service because he knew I collected the stuff and that only two were there & had he not done that I'd never have gotten to it), and in Canada anyway, their prices aren't more than anywhere else.

    They also have frequent sales, and when you combine that with the fact that they actually stock current product (unlike department stores that're always a gamble) as well as the fact that you can order from their website if needed, its actually the cheapest place to buy retail product 1st hand most of the time. Also to build on one of your earlier points, I honestly believe that if it wasn't for Toys R Us, the chances of us even seeing mass released MP figures in North America would probably be slim to none, so it really gets me to wtf when I read people complaining about not being able to find shit, and subsequently blaming TRU as if the toys being popular isn't the major factor in why they don't shelfwarm for 9 months.
     
  3. Chaos Prime

    Chaos Prime Combaticon

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    Well TRU has gotten a bit pricy, up to the point where I try to avoid going there. They're only doing it to themselves. Economic Darwinism, I suppose.
     
  4. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

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    Not so much given to TRU but in some cases, TRU is the only retailer willing to even sell the toys, like GIJOE whenever it went on hiatus and TRU was the only store who wanted to sell them. There are times where Walmart doesn't think certain toys will sell but those said toys are ones target and TRU tend to give a chance to.

    In recent years we've seen TRU as the sole retailer which even bothered to sell mp transformers at brick & mortar stores. Walmart stopped after Skywarp. TRU is a good retailer to sell exclusive toys at because that's their main item to sell, they can't cut costs and offset them with grocery sales like Walmart and target.

    Sometimes TRU exclusives can be a PITA to buy let alone find, but if they go out, it's not like Walmart and target will get exclusives just as good.
     
  5. Roufuss

    Roufuss Shots

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    Wal-Mart has a huge display for AoE right now... I guess your store just didn't roll it out yet.

    The Wal-Mart near me easily has triple the product that TRU does in their display, something like 30 AoE Voyagers (tons of Hound and Galvatron to boot), 20 or so Leaders, tons of Deluxes and plenty of other figures.

    The display just went up in the last few days now that the movie advertisement is in full force and we're close to the release of the movie.

    Wal-Mart isn't the only one, Target has allotted an entire three sided endcap for movie product as well. One Target here had something 30 or 40 deluxes when I went in and tons of their exclusive figures.

    As nice as that TRU display is, it had no new figures on it at the one I went to, and I got all my Wave 2 product from Target and Wal-Mart and their displays. That's no surprise though, if you aren't at TRU when the doors open (or if the employees don't decide to buy all the good shit for themselves) you're generally only getting the crap nobody wants. Worked out well for me though since I saved money not buying it from TRU with their marked up prices anyways.

    I've tried to give TRU my business plenty of times since I moved, but at least 9 out of 10 trips result in nothing getting bought. The one time I managed to find some actually sought after figures was when the employees didn't get a chance to stock the shelves from the truck that morning and instead did it in the afternoon. The manager that rung me up was shocked I found what I did, exclaiming "Yea, the normal customers who come in every morning left empty handed, so you're lucky we had to delay putting out our stock!"

    The employees are generally nice, it's just a shame they never have enough stock.
     
  6. tikgnat

    tikgnat Baweepgranaweepninnybong.

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    I like taking my daughter to TRU, she has fun with all their mini garden houses and bikes, cars and things.
     
  7. EnergonWaffles

    EnergonWaffles Autobot's Head Chef Veteran

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    My experience with the stores in my area:

    TRU-
    "Scuse me, do you have AOE Optimus?"
    "Yes ma'am. The Voyager Optimus is a good one for kids."
    "It's for me,"
    "Ah. You looking for Voyager, Evasion, or Evolution pack? We're getting Silver Knight soon too."
    "Evolution pack."
    "I think we sold out, but I'll look in the back."
    "Thanks."

    5Below:
    "Scuse me, do you have any Transformer Prime toys?"
    "Which one you looking for?"
    "Arcee"
    "Thats the uh...blue bike, right? None on the shelf but I'll check in the back."
    "Thanks"

    Target:
    "Scuse me, do you have AOE Optimus?"
    "Robot, right?"
    "Yep."
    "Mighta seen him. Here's our TF section."
    "Thanks"


    Walmart:
    "Scuse me, do you have AOE Optimus?"
    "Whats that?"
    "A Transfor-"
    "Toys are in the back." *leaves*

    *repeat Walmart exchange for Ross and TJMax.

    And thats why I don't mind slightly raised prices at my local TRU, and hope they continue to do well.

    Edit: no, thats not meant as a diss on Walmart, TJMax and Ross employees. It's just the ones in my area.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2014
  8. Reaper Cloud

    Reaper Cloud Dark Wrecker

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    I can't imagine TRU being around much longer. Maybe by 2025 they will cease to exist, since they can continue to survive by killing off the weaker stores first (from the stores that are still around that is).

    I'm just pissed that Lionel Playworld died when it did. That franchise was WAY better than TRU could ever be. Plus their clearance was a decent percentage and happened often.
     
  9. KnightHawkke

    KnightHawkke Flynn Lives

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    TRU has year around layaway as well, which is actually damned nice, It is getting my MP Grimlock when I would have had no chance at all to otherwise considering when it came out. My biggest issue with TRU right now is I am about sick of hearing people say "we don't know what's on a truck till it arrives" It is a pain in the ass when trying to get to MP's before they get scalped by.. those people..

    Well it's like Snakeeyes said they do price matching. as well as like I said Layaway.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2014
  10. Dragonclaw

    Dragonclaw Briefly the owner of KB Toys

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    As a former TRU manager myself (anybody that goes into the Dublin, CA store my voice is STILL the one overhead for selling those BPPs...and I recorded it off the clock 10 years ago!) and I am often surprised it's still around. At one point, during the X-Mas season I was the SRS, Boys World Leader, Overnight Flow leader AND the cash counter at the same time, plus I ran several in store events...Hot Wheels, Zoid building, Lego, but the company itself was floundering. We lost 5 store managers and 2 DM's in a year and a half in no small part because they decided to hire the same bonehead who had JUST ran FAO Schwartz into oblivion as their new CEO, and TRU quickly went the same direction.

    Toy companies are constantly propping up TRU because otherwise we will ALL be at the mercy of what Walmart and Target want to carry and that's IT. Unfortunately since TRU crushed most of the mom & pop toy stores, and KB has long since fallen, they have no other big toy guys to have their back. Comic Sotres like mine are good toy sources, but we aren't really a united force and the vast majority of us don't even register on toy companies radar because they set the bar too high to order direct from (Last I checked Hasbro was $25,000 minimum per calendar year with your first order having to be $5,000.) So companies like Lego give them 'exclusive windows' to have product early, Hasbro and Mattel give them a ton of exclusives, even small guys like Neca send reps into their stores to try and keep them in stock. Sadly NONE of that matters if the guys at the top keep screwing things up. TRU lost almost a billion dollars last year and have some 800 million dollars in debt coming due all too soon, you can't keep that up and still stay afloat no matter how much the toy companies try.
     
  11. Autovolt 127

    Autovolt 127 Get In The Titan, Prime!

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    There's a TRU opening up near my local movie theatre.
     
  12. Shin Densetsu

    Shin Densetsu I WILL DESTROY YOU Content Contributor Veteran

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    Whoa that's a lot of insight into what's going on and what has gone on. Thanks for posting man! Very informative.
     
  13. megatroptimus

    megatroptimus Untitled

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    Except Power Rangers, they're always on sale at 25-40% off it seems.
     
  14. Aernaroth

    Aernaroth <b><font color=blue>I voted for Super_Megatron and Veteran

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    How we consume, and WHAT we consume with regards to toys has changed since the 90s, when I would argue TRU was at it's peak. I'm sorry, but their business model simply isn't suited to the conditions of today, and I'm not surprised this necessitates scaling back in terms of their stores.
     
  15. Chopperface

    Chopperface Chadwick Forever

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    I have fond memories as a kid when my mom would take me to TRU. Just walking through the store and seeing everything was as fun as actually playing with the toy, I remember.

    Still don't think it's going down anytime soon, though.

    EDIT: ... that is, until I read Dragonclaw's post. Very informative.
     
  16. pandaderek

    pandaderek Well-Known Member

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    They should put out, only, display toys and put all the packaged toys in the back...i'm tired of wanting a toy, but, the packaging is all messed up because some kid opened it or handled it with his/her sticky lollipop/saliva infested hands...also, that way, kids could play with the toys at the store and parents no longer need to pay for daycare, just pick them up on their way home from work.
     
  17. FanimusMaximus

    FanimusMaximus Well-Known Member

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    Welp, there goes 25% of my local toy suppliers...
     
  18. flatline72

    flatline72 Banned

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    A grocery chain in AZ did this...Basha's....you can "drop the kids @ the little kid cube".....literally an cube shaped area with 4 glass walls and a door...and they had a setup like that so adults could patronize their store without the kids from hell bugging them for snacks and other crap....
     
  19. Ionus

    Ionus Well-Known Member

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    I use TRU as a last resort honestly. Occasionally I buy from them if I walk in and see something cool. I still love going there though and hope they can get out of the hole they are in.
     
  20. Doug

    Doug Well-Known Member

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    I'm not surprise about Office Depot and Radio Shack closing some stores.