it is kinda sad but FAO has been struggling for a long time and probably would have gone under in this economy if TRU hadn't bought it so... at least it might keep the FAO Schwartz around for longer... its just hard to justify paying FAO prices in this economy , b/c even their basic actions figures are usually priced higher than normal stores. The attraction of FAO stores is going in them to look around more so than buying the toys they do have.
Yes! Sorry, but that place needs some new blood. I feel sad for those who feel sad, but I'm a little happy. ^^
I have been to the flagship store in 5th Ave Manhattan several years ago (believe it's the one in the Big movie) so I am a bit saddened to hear to news, but at least it will keep the venerable store open.
tis sad as its yet another step in what seems like a slow death for Toystores, Walmart and target are to blame along with the economy
There used to be an FAO Schwartz at the Mall of Georgia when it first opened. I was kind of disappointed. I think when they started out they made a lot of their own high end stuff. When I went it was just the same Star Wars figures that were sold everywhere else, only they were $12 instead of $6. Really the only reason to shop there would be if you were the kind of person who cared more about being seen shopping there than anything else. I wanted my giant piano you can run around on from Big, dammit!
FAO Schwartz is really not that great a store. Let me go in there and spend $80000 on a life size stuffed panda. Seriously besides Trump & Bloomberg who does that?
Zomg!! Overpriced toys were not selling in a down economy?!?! Shocking! Now TRU picking them up is shocking. I thought TRU would be holding on by a thread financially.
Interestingly, TRU doesn't even own ITSELF. I wonder how it was made to look as if TRU made the purchase, or if "the news" just depicted it this way. EDIT: Ahhh, so it was "the news" twisting words a bit:
There's something seriously wrong with the economy when retail sectors can't support a whopping two chains. Circuit City and Kay Bee should've been able to coexist with Best Buy and Toys R Us. At the very least there should've been a new player to fill the respective voids. There's no market on Earth that can't support a duopoly. That TRU's already been in backruptcy once, and fairly recently, is not very comforting at all. What's been happening slowly in retail is happening at an accelerated pace in the auto industry. From my experiece in grocery retail, the service industry doesn't exactly buy alot of new cars and often does without. When New GM and New Chrysler lower employees' compensation to similarly low levels, expect fewer purchases from them too. Fundamental mathematics cannot be altered, no matter how hard lawyers try. This is exactly what happens when you ship so many decently paying jobs out of the country but continue to price products and services as if they're not produced by slave labor. Anybody who can read a newspaper should be able to see how well making up the difference between falling wages and inflating prices with easy credit has worked out. The bad economy is not a cause but a result of these problems.
