Toys R Us is no more

[CouchCoach]

I do find it interesting all of the sadness and just how many are lamenting the passing of Toys R Us and the Giraffe, the San Antonio Zoo is actually trying to buy the rights to the Giraffe also draw attention to the plight of the species.

What I find most interesting is all of those saddened by this, had they stopped supporting the business and taken it to online?

While convenience and cost have taken the front seat, customer loyalty has been relegated to the trunk for most businesses. Except one, every woman I know that shops at this store is not forsaking them but even they will suffer from the "advance" of our civilization but Target still holds onto a very high customer loyalty among women.

I must plead guilty to doing my part to speed the demise of Toy R Us as I've spent a lot of money with Amazon for toys for my grandchildren. As for my toys, Pete's Perv Shop will never die!

 

[YosemiteSam]

They are a product of their own failure to innovate. They were just another Blockbuster.

Toys.com exploded during the rise of the dot.com bust. If Toys R Us had just taken them over. They had the infrastructure and the money to become the Amazon of toys, but alas. They didn't and now they die.

My currently company had stores, but decided to open a website and sell off all the stores as franchises. Now, they don't even offer franchises anymore because the Internet is where it's at. The company is thriving and doesn't have the overhead of real estate.

 

[Quickdraw]

Toy's R Us is a victim of technology in today's society. The convenience of being able to jump on a computer at home in your comfy recliner and order just about anything you can think of is mostly to blame. Stores cannot keep up because they cannot keep the inventory necessary to be able to draw people from their homes. There's a huge lack of selection in stores. Even WalMart carries only a portion of what they offer online. And to boot, they offer free shipping without a yearly fee like Amazon does with Prime. This is why malls are becoming ghost towns and big chain stores like K-Mart, Sears and JCPenney are closing all across the country.

 

[OmerV]

I think all of the above are reasonable points explaining the demise of Toys R Us, but I think another fundamental reason is that complacency set it. Seems to me a lot of times when a company finds a niche, like Toys R Us, they quit paying attention to the details (such as cleanliness and keeping shelves stocked and organized), and the become stagnant, not realizing that they have to find ways to progress or newcomers to the market will start stealing market share (and not just internet sales). I saw the same thing happen with Hastings.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I think all of the above are reasonable points explaining the demise of Toys R Us, but I think another fundamental reason is that complacency set it. Seems to me a lot of times when a company finds a niche, like Toys R Us, they quit paying attention to the details (such as cleanliness and keeping shelves stocked and organized), and the become stagnant, not realizing that they have to find ways to progress or newcomers to the market will start stealing market share (and not just internet sales). I saw the same thing happen with Hastings.

I concur with this 100%

 

[timb2]

Not just Toys'R'Us but malls are hurting from the internet. From idiots shooting up malls or teens acting like morons at malls, and the scumbag shoplifters or ignorant customers who have zero class especially during "Black Friday" fighting over some stupid hot item for Christmas. It's not worth it to go out shopping rather stay at home and just deliver it please.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Not just Toys'R'Us but malls are hurting from the internet. From idiots shooting up malls or teens acting like morons at malls, and the scumbag shoplifters or ignorant customers who have zero class especially during "Black Friday" fighting over some stupid hot item for Christmas. It's not worth it to go out shopping rather stay at home and just deliver it please.

Taxing Internet sales will help brick and mortar stores, but it's very hard to beat the convenience of shopping at home in your pjs.

 

[Cowpolk]

I must be an oddball I dont buy stuff online ever

 

[big dog cowboy]

Toys R Us is no more

Never shopped there before. The Mrs hated it. Would just rather buy at Walmart or online.

 

[Runwildboys]

The one advantage of Toys R Us was that, come Xmas time, I could walk in, snap a picture, send it to one of my nieces with kids and ask, "This okay?"

 

[Runwildboys]

I must be an oddball I dont buy stuff online ever

Don't talk like that....We all knew you were an odd ball anyway.

 

[Shinaoi]

Toy's R Us is a victim of technology in today's society. The convenience of being able to jump on a computer at home in your comfy recliner and order just about anything you can think of is mostly to blame. Stores cannot keep up because they cannot keep the inventory necessary to be able to draw people from their homes. There's a huge lack of selection in stores. Even WalMart carries only a portion of what they offer online. And to boot, they offer free shipping without a yearly fee like Amazon does with Prime. This is why malls are becoming ghost towns and big chain stores like K-Mart, Sears and JCPenney are closing all across the country.

Yeah those department stores like sears and dillard are basically on their death bed. Which toys r us was for a long time.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Never shopped there before. The Mrs hated it. Would just rather buy at Walmart or online.

I would never rather "Walmart". I hate that place with a passion.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I must be an oddball I dont buy stuff online ever

The only thing I don't buy online is cloths and fresh food. (Cloths must fit, and the food has to be fresh to my liking)

 

[DallasEast]

The one advantage of Toys R Us was that, come Xmas time, I could walk in, snap a picture, send it to one of my nieces with kids and ask, "This okay?"

Now you can cut out the walking part, get on your phone, surf to a toy site, take a screenshot, and text it your nieces with kids.

 

[Runwildboys]

Now you can cut out the walking part, get on your phone, surf to a toy site, take a screenshot, and text it your nieces with kids.

I can't even always tell what I might like online, much less what those little pukes....err, sweeties might like.

 

[John813]

It was doomed a decade + ago, before the internet shopping really took over.

In both instances, critics say Bain and its private-equity partners left the chains vulnerable by saddling them with heavy debt loads as they took them private, crippling their capacity to compete in brutal price wars that have dogged the industry.

After buying KB Toys in 2000, Bain and its co-investors had the retailer borrow $85 million to pay the firm and its co-investors a dividend — a move that left the chain, which had been generating steady earnings, strapped for cash as deepening price cuts at Walmart lured more shoppers away from malls.

In that case, Bain’s cash grab left it with a profit on its investment, despite the fact that 86-year-old KB Toys got liquidated in 2008.

At Toys ‘R’ Us, however, Bain and its co-investors, KKR and Vornado Realty, never took a dividend as they watched the value of their $1.28 billion equity stake in the $6.6 billion, debt-fueled buyout go to zero in this week’s Chapter 11 filing.

That’s partly because the private-equity firms underestimated the chain’s profit outlook when they bought it in 2005, soon finding that relentless price pressure in toys was sapping the company’s ability to run its business.

https://nypost.com/2017/09/21/bain-capital-has-now-plunged-two-toy-retailers-into-bankruptcy/

 

[CouchCoach]

I think all of the above are reasonable points explaining the demise of Toys R Us, but I think another fundamental reason is that complacency set it. Seems to me a lot of times when a company finds a niche, like Toys R Us, they quit paying attention to the details (such as cleanliness and keeping shelves stocked and organized), and the become stagnant, not realizing that they have to find ways to progress or newcomers to the market will start stealing market share (and not just internet sales). I saw the same thing happen with Hastings.

Agree and training employees to give a damn is becoming passe with too many companies and when I receive good in person customer service, I am usually shocked but always make it a point to try and contact someone in charge to let them know what a great job they're doing.

And all of this Americans being put out of work, does anyone give a damn except those affected? Americans proved their loyalty to "American Made" a long time ago and in their defense wouldn't have if the other products had not been better made. American auto makers intentionally made vehicles to wear out like some computers and smartphones are made today.

 

[CouchCoach]

The one advantage of Toys R Us was that, come Xmas time, I could walk in, snap a picture, send it to one of my nieces with kids and ask, "This okay?"

Hell, even that's too much. I ask my son and daughter-in-law to fill out the grandkids Wish List and I pick from that. They don't like it, I tell them to blame their parents. I wanted to give you guns and drugs.

 

[Runwildboys]

Hell, even that's too much. I ask my son and daughter-in-law to fill out the grandkids Wish List and I pick from that. They don't like it, I tell them to blame their parents. I wanted to give you guns and drugs.

Right, I get a list, but it's always, "I think it comes with the action figure, but I'm not sure if that's the one I'm thinking of."

Either that, or they have toys in the same universe, but not the exact toy specified.