Glad to hear some part of Toys R us survives. I expect a lot of jokes from Vangelus on Toys R us being Canada exclusive.
Congrats to my fellow collectors up north. It now rests on your hands to expand TRU down south and to the rest of the world.
On some level, I hope they don't. US business culture is pretty toxic. They were lucky to escape its grasp once.
I was quite happy to read this email. If only because the store I go to is brand new and really nice and I'd hate to see them close down and lose their jobs.
What about Celine Dion lol and, back on topic I hope we still get exclusives. When all this started the manager at my TRU told me they are not going anywhere. I guess if we are using fictional characters we also have Wolverine
TRU usa or lets say international has been too arrogant. Like how they tried for 9 years to gain foothold in my country waisted money and had to sell off their assets here. Simply not willing to understand the market and pusbing their own ideas. While there were already strong contenders.
I look forward to 12 years in the future, when TRU-CA expands back into the USA, buys out a failing 'new' Kay-Bee, or goes under itself. (OK, I'm not actually looking forward to that last one.)
We basically saw this coming. My area was one of the many hit hard when TRU had to reduce. I grew up with no less than three a comfy drive away, but recent years there was one slightly out of easy range, but it was another one over an hour away that got all the exclusives. Oh well, I got MP Soundwave and Grimlock, experienced a midnight opening, and managed to get a TR Arcee and Grotesque (thanks mightily from WTF), so my adult collecting journey had some good memories from them. Sorry to see them go, glad Canada's stores officially escaped the morally bankrupt bs that doomed the US chains. Waiting to see how this KayBee 2.0 thing pans out.
I dont know much about Canada. But everytime I have bought something from there online, the shipping is ridiculous. Crossing an imaginary line apparantly doubles the cost. But with that being said, I think brick and mortar stores still succeed in Canada because the government makes it easier for them to succeed. Once walmart and amazon take over theres no turning back.
Great news but with only 80 stores in Canada and no where near that many in Japan, the days of TRU exclusives are most certainly over.
There was a piece on TRU Canada last week in which the CEO acknowledges that they did things differently, such as opening a BRU alongside a TRU in every single store. They credit that to creating a different atmosphere for shoppers - you bring them in with the baby material, and then graduating up into the children material is just a natural extension. They do need to work on cultivating a more experience-focused shopping environment, and that's probably what their experimental stores are all about - the vast majority of the rest of them are very much the "tall ceilings, harshing lighting" scenario of a TRU anywhere in North America. Also, location, location, location. Most of the TRU I've visited in Canada have been in places that previously out in the suburbs, but are now squarely in the middle of developed areas.
I'm sure Canada will still have TRU exclusives. When the USA has a Target/Walgreens/Kohls exclusive, it has to end up somewhere! Lately it has been Canadian Tire or EB Games, but I bet TRU will get some action too.
