Toys r us considering liquidation in US

[cycosis]

Couldn’t find the old thread. All US locations could be done by next week. This would be both a dream and a potential curse for me and my family’s company as it would eliminate a huge baby gear competitor but also likely take down a number of suppliers for us.

https://www.google.ca/amp/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4569227

[revelations]

Standard corporate speak - 'operating as usual' - until some midnight, 2 weeks later.

[rage2]

Out of curiosity, how big of a competitor is Toys r Us compared to say Amazon?

[cycosis]

To me? Probably equal right now but with amazon chipping away more and more each year. Them going down would cause a massive disruption for about 2 months at least though. So many registries have gift cards that are going to be nullified.

I remember about 5 or 6 years ago when Bo bebe went down here in Calgary and dozens of couples lost out on their furniture suite special orders. Thousands and thousands of dollars, just poof!

[benyl]

Bo bebe went down here in Calgary

We had a gift card with them. My wife found out the owner had setup another shop somewhere by Chinook. She went and demanded that she honour the card and we bought a bunch of shit we didn't need (ended up giving it away) so that we could get our money out of the card. I know many others who were not as lucky.

[nzwasp]

I really dislike big box stores like toys'rus but I would be happy to buy lego at liquidation prices from them.

[Buster]

To me? Probably equal right now but with amazon chipping away more and more each year. Them going down would cause a massive disruption for about 2 months at least though. So many registries have gift cards that are going to be nullified.

I remember about 5 or 6 years ago when Bo bebe went down here in Calgary and dozens of couples lost out on their furniture suite special orders. Thousands and thousands of dollars, just poof!


We had a gift card with them. My wife found out the owner had setup another shop somewhere by Chinook. She went and demanded that she honour the card and we bought a bunch of shit we didn't need (ended up giving it away) so that we could get our money out of the card. I know many others who were not as lucky.

We need to teach an understanding of counter party risk at the high school level.

[cycosis]

We had a gift card with them. My wife found out the owner had setup another shop somewhere by Chinook. She went and demanded that she honour the card and we bought a bunch of shit we didn't need (ended up giving it away) so that we could get our money out of the card. I know many others who were not as lucky.

Yea that was a franchisee who ran the Westhills location. She got burned so hard in the whole collapse of Bobebe and their ownership. She tried to open a shop called LilyMoss without any supplier agreements in place. When she went to the main trade show and no one would sell her as she was too close to me and Westcoast.

[hampstor]

As an adult, going into toy stores is one of my least favourite shopping experiences... I'd rather buy off Amazon. However my kids love it when they have freedom to go and pick something up with money they've earned - it's a lot more gratifying for them to physically go pick it up than to order it and wait.

If Toys R Us disappeared, it would would be a bit of a loss however we could always go to Walmart and do the same thing (which is actually our preferred place to go for mainstream toys anyway). For the more unique stuff, there's Mastermind and PM Hobbycraft in Calgary. Failing that, Amazon it is :)

[dirtsniffer]

To me? Probably equal right now but with amazon chipping away more and more each year. Them going down would cause a massive disruption for about 2 months at least though. So many registries have gift cards that are going to be nullified.

I remember about 5 or 6 years ago when Bo bebe went down here in Calgary and dozens of couples lost out on their furniture suite special orders. Thousands and thousands of dollars, just poof!

I've always paid deposits on visa as i've heard they can refund the card in this situation. Try to limit the size of the deposit as well.

[cycosis]

I've always paid deposits on visa as i've heard they can refund the card in this situation. Try to limit the size of the deposit as well.

So long as it was on credit card. Those who used debit or cash were SOL

[Xtrema]

As an adult, going into toy stores is one of my least favourite shopping experiences... I'd rather buy off Amazon. However my kids love it when they have freedom to go and pick something up with money they've earned - it's a lot more gratifying for them to physically go pick it up than to order it and wait.

If Toys R Us disappeared, it would would be a bit of a loss however we could always go to Walmart and do the same thing (which is actually our preferred place to go for mainstream toys anyway). For the more unique stuff, there's Mastermind and PM Hobbycraft in Calgary. Failing that, Amazon it is :)

I don't know if kids find things magical any more. Going to Toys R Us or FAO Schwartz was one of those magical experience when I was a kid. I just don't know if the same can be replicated online.

Technical toys, branded lines, online shopping is fine. But sometime finding a good teddy bear still need to shop in person.

So what's going to happen to the Canadian operation of TRU?


Out of curiosity, how big of a competitor is Toys r Us compared to say Amazon?

Heard TRU currently accounts for 15% of toys retail market in US.

[rage2]

As an adult, going into toy stores is one of my least favourite shopping experiences... I'd rather buy off Amazon. However my kids love it when they have freedom to go and pick something up with money they've earned - it's a lot more gratifying for them to physically go pick it up than to order it and wait.
Funny, I’m the opposite. Probably even more excited than the kids. :rofl:

[cycosis]

Done, now to find out what happens to Canada. Rumour has it some group is trying to organize a purchase of the Canadian operation to keep it going.

http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/14/news/companies/toys-r-us-closing-stores/index.html

[ExtraSlow]

This is the Canada part.
http://business.financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/toymaker-trying-to-rally-industry-to-bid-on-toys-r-us-canada

Not sure if these people can pull it off.

[cycosis]

I hope not :D

[benyl]

We went on the weekend and spent all of our gift cards at Toys R Us Canada.

[Xtrema]

This is the Canada part.
http://business.financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/toymaker-trying-to-rally-industry-to-bid-on-toys-r-us-canada

Not sure if these people can pull it off.

I hope they do, although I think they have to do a better online presence against Amazon.

[rage2]

We went on the weekend and spent all of our gift cards at Toys R Us Canada.
I went on the weekend and had the kids super happy for a whopping $1.54 haha. So much shit on clearance.

[ZenOps]

v7xVcGAaD-4

[ExtraSlow]

MGA bid failed. Fairfax bid looks less problematic. Still a chance for further bidders to enter, although I can't think who that might be. Either way looks like Canadian unit will continue operations.
http://business.financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/fairfax-is-said-to-agree-to-purchase-toys-r-us-canadian-unit