Agreed. KBToys back in its hey-day wasn't exactly a mecca of toys. It was just the last stop on a toy run because most of what they stocked was old and on clearance. Occasionally they got some interesting stuff that no one else had. But my best memories are finding cheap G2 figures, Machine Wars, some Voltron figures that TRU seemed to pass over somehow and a bunch of cheap collectors Barbies for my wife. I really don't see how pop-up stores are going to replicate that in any form or fashion. Considering the space they'll end up with, I don't see their selection really being any better than what you find at a super Kroger store, unfortunately.
I'd like to see KB come back. I enjoyed their stores more than TRU. Hope they can bring that charm back, too, if it becomes a thing.
Neither here nor there but does anyone remember "Circus World" ? They were in a lot of malls down here in Florida in the 80's and by the 90's those same stores were KB. I wonder if KB operated under the CW name in some parts of the country back then ?
All somebody needs to do is find out what rent is in a mall. Or anywhere really. We have a rentier economy. Rent, ultimately, destroys more businesses than everything else put together. You can be the dumbest meanest smelliest asshole selling the most broken, dangerous, or even non-existent product and not have to worry about a thing if your rent is reasonable. If not, good luck. Malls just don't have the traffic for high rent because high rent drove out what was driving the traffic. They used to be a place where many disparate markets came together under one roof. What's in a mall these days besides the same cookie cutter sweatshop clothing that's everywhere else? Absolutely none of which they can really control, let alone do so with lower prices to snag that sweet Ollies demographic.
Jesus Christ this thread derailed so much it turned into a fucking space shuttle and flew to Cybertron. isnt it possible for KB2 to learn from the mistakes the original store made, and improve? I read that KB had mainly old stock, I can’t imagine KB2 opening with the same business model and ideas that ultimately led to downfall of the original company. Heck, we should be thankful this is happening at all with what happend to TRU.
We'll see. Not trying to be a downer but I'm not getting my hopes up either. KB ultimately left a bad taste. Plus I never really went to TRU anyway.
No, what you're going to get are holiday pop-up stores. That in of itself isn't that bad. BUT, if you're expecting to get more than one wave of toys at any pop-up location...I've got some sad news for you. The store is only designed to be a pop-up, meaning its shelf-life for stock will probably run from about Sept 1 - Dec 18. KBToys will muscle up on whatever is available from toy companies during Q3 and then exhaust their supply until Christmas. The idea will be to have all holiday merchandise in stores by the beginning of December and then ride out the remainder for the rest of the month. What's left over goes to clearance. All you got to do is look how Calendar Stores are operated to understand how the new KBToys will most likely operate. Yes, they're talking about having a few permanent showcase stores around the nation. But I doubt one is going in at Wichita. Most likely, I'll have to drive to either Kansas City, OKC or Dallas (3-5.5 hours) to visit one.
I'm totally down for these stores to function for Christmas like Spirit Halloween does for, well, Halloween.
That's fine. I'm just pointing out that, in principle, they are not going to function like KBToys of old...nor will they be any type of "distribution savior" in that we'll get one wave of product and that's pretty much it until the next time the store pops up. I think there's a lot of hopes being built up right now...but realistically, we're all going to have to set the bar pretty low on expectations if we want them met or exceeded.
Suppose it depends how well they do. I live in a town called Middlesbrough in the UK, And Disney opened a Pop-up store about 2 years ago (as well as across the country) and to this day it is still a "Pop-up" store with future plans to get it permanent. What will probably happen, is the more popular Pop-up KB stores will stay open, and the ones that didn't do so well will close, with more dedicated stores opening later. I can't imagine 400 odd pop stores opening and none of them staying around, it would be a complete waste of time and money.
I think its a combo deal, rent and space, though location is a biggie too but your certainly correct as history goes. I think, however, retail rent is cheap because all I see is new structures going up and business flocking to them, when looking in my area only but I'm sure its different in other states. Keep in mind too, I've read Walmarts and Sams clubs closing down through out the US (here in my area too) so I'm not convinced rent is playing that big of a role these days in preventing a business from success while being profitable. Certainly buying habits have changed. Whatever KB does, I hope it works but I have this feeling that it will be pop up stores. It makes the most sense, if you look at the major chains on how they stock toys through out the year. Just sucks, if your looking for a bike or baby strollers and such, as TRU seemed to have the bigger supply and choices there.
Exactly! To me was being a Collector advocate more so than a woman basher but that's where this Es, Jay, Dub crap has taken us... Either way if this is all that new businesses will take from that comment then prepare to meet up with K-Mart and TRU in Valhalla. Or Hades.
Sounds promising, but I hope they do manage to find some regular locations to keep, preferably non-mall stores. I don't see the pop-up store style lasting past the first 4 years though, and even some of the other seasonal ones year typically stay unrented/unused until the seasonal store comes back for its season. At least that's what it's been like for the halloween supply stores here. But I also don't want to see KB fail because places hit them with high rent at every turn either. I want them to succeed so they can potentially grow the exclusives market with new in-demand material.
I just want to see a business succeed, period - any business. It is a sad thing when a company goes out of business. Lot's of people get hurt. If KB can prevent scalping, employ some good kids, and build their brand on the service end, I think they'll succeed.
I hope this turns out well. I'm running out of places to buy Transformers near me, Amazon has terrible prices for toys and I'd love for toy stores to still be a thing.
Maybe. Or it will operate like most other pop-ups like Calendar Store, TRU Express and Halloween Express. As of right now, that's the model in which they're quoted as talking about, along with several permanent showcase stores in larger stand alone buildings across the nation. But like I said, the permanent ones won't be in small or medium sized markets. We're probably talking more like New York, L.A., Dallas, Boston, Atlanta, Orlando, Seattle, etc.
