People are taking Toys 'R' Us news hard

flhrci

flhrci

Final Approach
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David
I only ever got to go to Children's Palace as a kid despite Toys R Us being nearby. Not a loss to me.

 
It's been growing increasingly skanky over the years. Not a big surprise.

That plus Amazon..
 
"skanky" or "slinky"? They still make 'em?

upload_2018-3-14_20-51-37.jpeg
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
It's been growing increasingly skanky over the years. Not a big surprise.

That plus Amazon..
Click to expand...

Also, the competition (Target, Wal-Mart, Academy and Dick's Sporting goods to some extent, etc) has raised its game, leaving TrU lagging behind.

Still, I'm gonna miss it when it is time to buy gifts for my 8 YO next year. There is (was?) a fairly nice one right up the street...
 
Another victim of corporate greed. Got bought not that long ago, new owners took on lots and lots of debt to get the property. Couldn't support the debt, so they didn't have the money to take care of the stores. So they all close, lots of little people loose their jobs but the big money guys all get their checks. Sorry, I've seen it before. Same exact thing happened to the grocery store down the street.
 
Toys-R-Us was a handy gift-card choice when needing gifts for kids. Other than for that one purpose, I doubt I've been in one of their stores in 10 years or more. My recollection of the one near where I used to live in Queens is that they were overpriced, understocked, disorganized, dirty, and staffed by people who wished they were anywhere else other than at the store.

In other words, they were a typical brick-and-mortar retail store.

I'm saddened by the decline of brick-and-mortar retail; but every time I'm ready to blame Amazon and online sellers in general, I think about Micro Center. Their business is thriving and growing. When I think about why that is, I come up with two reasons: Micro Center has stuff, and Micro Center knows stuff.

I've been dealing with Micro Center for about two decades. If it's remotely related to computers, Micro Center has it in stock. I have never -- NEVER -- not found what I needed in a Micro Center store, no matter how obscure the thing I needed was. I really don't know how they do it. They have everything.

Most modern brick-and-mortar stores, on the other hand, have very poor inventory. They'll stock multiple, redundant versions of stuff that they think will sell out by Tuesday, but zero versions of anything even slightly off the beaten track.

Take phone cases in Best Buy, for example. Any Best Buy store will have hundreds or thousands of iPhone cases filling display space. But try to find a single case for, say, an LG V20. They sell the phone, but they won't have a single case for it. Yeah, they can order one for you if you want. The company stocks a whopping two, one of which is out of stock at the moment. But if they have to order it, I may as well buy it from Amazon, choose from hundreds of models, get it in two days with free shipping, and pay half the price.

lgv20case.jpg lgv20case-amazon.jpg

I recently bought a dash cam. After more than a month of research, I decided which one I wanted. I then printed up prices from Amazon and other retailers that most stores will price-match. I still prefer supporting brick-and-mortar stores when I can, even it it means going through the hassle of getting a price match. But it was all for naught. Not a single store within a two-hour radius had the dash cam I wanted. Most didn't even stock it, and the few that did would have to order it. Screw that. I bought it from Amazon.

The second reason Micro Center thrives is that not only do they have stuff, but they know stuff. They have to. Their staff work on commission; and my understanding is that if the customer returns the stuff (other than a direct swap of a defective item), the salesman loses the commission. But that doesn't happen very often because their employees actually know stuff, so they sell you the stuff that you actually need.

In Best Buy, on the other hand, I'm usually the smartest guy in the store -- and I'm not even all that smart. But I could write a book of all the stupid, dead-wrong answers to questions that Best Buy employees have given to me over the years. I know more about the stuff they sell than they do. So what good are they? That's why the only time I go to Best Buy is if I already know what stuff I want, and they either have it on sale as a loss leader hoping you'll buy their useless extended warranty, or if I intend to do a price match.

There are a few brick-and-mortar stores besides Micro Center that are reasonably decent. I usually have good luck at Lowe's, for example. I don't recall them ever not having the stuff I needed (unlike Home Depot, who invariably lack one item that is absolutely essential to completing a project). Lowe's also send me free stuff to test in return for my reviewing it, which I think is a great deal. I usually review stuff that I buy anyway, so reviewing free stuff is even better. And they give me a veteran's discount on the stuff that I do buy. So I like Lowe's.

The True Value near me is also very good. It's a family-owned franchise, but it's a huge place. They have all kinds of stuff. Only once did they not have the stuff I went there for, and it was kind of borderline stuff for a home-improvement store to carry. I forget exactly what it was offhand, but I would have been surprised if they actually had it.

Tractor supply is also decent. They usually have in stock an adequate selection of most of the stuff one would reasonably expect a farm supply store to carry, and the staff are knowledgeable. Advance Auto isn't horrible, either. Rarely do they not have the stuff I need.

Unfortunately, those stores are the exception to the rule nowadays. Most brick-and-mortar stores fail dismally at the only two things for which they are useful: having stuff, and knowing stuff. In the case of Toys-R-Us, their suckage was even more pronounced because the stuff they sold was TOYS, of all things. Toys are fun. If you can't get your staff enthusiastic about selling toys, there's something seriously wrong.

Rich
 
First, about ToysRus...higher priced than Walmart, sure, but until not too long ago they had a great selection and at a decent price. My only beef was with the snotty cashier our store had, an older woman. But I did like the store.

Rich, this is one of those times you and I will very much disagree. Except for WM, brick and mortars are dying quickly, and that's too bad. I LIKE being able to go into a store and see something in person because:

1. Nothing compares to being able to see and touch something, especially clothing, shoes, etc.
2. I like being able to take it home right then.
3. I like supporting our local economy.
4. If I need to return it for some reason it's typically much easier.

I'm willing to pay a higher price to get something local. It's a pet peeve of mine when someone goes into a local store to get hands-on, and then goes online to buy it. When I bought a security system last month I got some input from people here then went to a local store, even though it was a chain, talked with an employee, then talked with the manager to get feedback about the item...and was thrilled to have it up and running just a few minutes later. I was able to buy confidently knowing it met my requirements, which was a big deal for me since I needed a plug-n-play system.

I knew I could have saved $150 buy then buying it online, but I felt like I got my money's worth. With that said, I liked mine so much I wanted to get dad one and had no qualms about saving the $150 to get his online at a cheaper price, and I don't feel like I cheated the local retailer in doing so since I paid full price for mine.

Yesterday I had to replace the low beam bulb on my truck. I looked online to see what bulb I needed and went to the local auto parts store where they looked it up to verify before fetching it for me. It's been a while since I replaced one so I'd forgotten all about it. But the counter guy knew..."wait, GM lists the wrong low-beam for your truck", and he got me the right one.

There is something to be said about online retailers. There's simply no way brick and mortars can stock every item - so online retailers have the advantage. There's a limitless supply of styles, colors and sizes online, a HUGE advantage. You can find parts online you'd never have been able to find 50 years ago. Dad needed glow plugs for his 70 year old diesel tractor the other day and found them online within minutes. I'm not anti-amazon by any means. But given a choice, I'd prefer to buy local.
 
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Gerhardt said:
But given a choice, I'd prefer to buy local.
Click to expand...

I'm with you there. I pay a little more for vehicle maintenance at a local shop vs say, Costco, for items like tires. But, the owner is an excellent mechanic, stands behind his work (gets it right the first time ), and takes care of me. Plus, he has a couple Z28s & 2 Vettes, and has another Vette on order, so gotta help him pay for his toys. :D
 
I was the project manager on two Toy-R-Us stores back in the late '80s...early '90s. Springfield and Joplin, MO.

They were my second experience with big corporations doing all they could to screw their contractors and/or play with their money for as long as they could (Wal-Mart was my first).

First, they demanded that the store be completed in 120 days while they had a 90 day pay cycle (and were always late), so your first month's pay request was "almost ready" to be paid when they were moving in. Sure, this was clearly itemized in the specifications but some or our less sophisticated subs, who typically only read their section of the specs and not the general conditions, were taken by surprise and it was hard on them.

They also had a $2,000/day "penalty" for finishing a project late (no rain days allowed) and a $1,000/day bonus for finishing early.

The first store, in Springfield, was completed on time (by the skin of our teeth).

The second store, in Joplin, was a cakewalk because I had done one and saved every document and note. We finished it 45 days early.

Interestingly, we had to sue them to get our $45,000. It's just amazing how that works.

Something I never mentioned to them at the time was that Joplin was a strip mall joint development. The developer completed all the sitework and utilities. I walked in to a "pad-ready" project. That saved at least 3 weeks but, hey, if they wanted to give us the same amount of time as the first one, who was I to argue!?!?!? ;)
 
Gerhardt said:
First, about ToysRus...higher priced than Walmart, sure, but until not too long ago they had a great selection and at a decent price. My only beef was with the snotty cashier our store had, an older woman. But I did like the store.

Rich, this is one of those times you and I will very much disagree. Except for WM, brick and mortars are dying quickly, and that's too bad. I LIKE being able to go into a store and see something in person because:

1. Nothing compares to being able to see and touch something, especially clothing, shoes, etc.
2. I like being able to take it home right then.
3. I like supporting our local economy.
4. If I need to return it for some reason it's typically much easier.

I'm willing to pay a higher price to get something local. It's a pet peeve of mine when someone goes into a local store to get hands-on, and then goes online to buy it. When I bought a security system last month I got some input from people here then went to a local store, even though it was a chain, talked with an employee, then talked with the manager to get feedback about the item...and was thrilled to have it up and running just a few minutes later. I was able to buy confidently knowing it met my requirements, which was a big deal for me since I needed a plug-n-play system.

I knew I could have saved $150 buy then buying it online, but I felt like I got my money's worth. With that said, I liked mine so much I wanted to get dad one and had no qualms about saving the $150 to get his online at a cheaper price, and I don't feel like I cheated the local retailer in doing so since I paid full price for mine.

Yesterday I had to replace the low beam bulb on my truck. I looked online to see what bulb I needed and went to the local auto parts store where they looked it up to verify before fetching it for me. It's been a while since I replaced one so I'd forgotten all about it. But the counter guy knew..."wait, GM lists the wrong low-beam for your truck", and he got me the right one.

There is something to be said about online retailers. There's simply no way brick and mortars can stock every item - so online retailers have the advantage. There's a limitless supply of styles, colors and sizes online, a HUGE advantage. You can find parts online you'd never have been able to find 50 years ago. Dad needed glow plugs for his 70 year old diesel tractor the other day and found them online within minutes. I'm not anti-amazon by any means. But given a choice, I'd prefer to buy local.
Click to expand...

We really don't disagree at all. But how many brick-and-mortar stores actually have stuff these days, and have employees who know about that stuff? That's my complaint.

I understand that they have limited floor space. But does it make sense for Best Buy to have an entire aisle full of cases for one phone that they sell, and not a single case for another phone that they sell? You'd think they'd have at least one even if for no reason other than as an upsell. But you'd be wrong. (Employees who weren't morons would be a nice touch, too.)

Rich
 
When I was about 6 or 7, my grandma wrote me a $40 check for my birthday, which is a crap ton of money for a little kid at that time. That's the most money I had ever had in my possession, and thought I was rich. I convinced my parents to take me to Toys-R-Us in the city (that's Oklahoma City) about an hour away, and let me blow it. They grudgingly allowed it. With my wad of cash in hand, I perused the aisles carefully and thoughtfully selecting several items that I had been wanting. Having not yet acquired computational skills myself, my parents then helped me whittle the pile down to what I could actually afford. When the sorting was complete, my former feeling of wealth diminished when I was left with only a single item in the basket. In 1990, $40 bought me a single set of Spy Gear walkie talkies. What a rip off! They ended up sucking pretty bad, BUT I did take them apart and screw the guts on the bottom of a short piece of 2x12, convinced that I could used the radio waves to levitate a hoverboard, like on Back to the Future 2.

Never been back to Toys-R-Us. Good riddance to overpriced crap.
 
I can't recall that I've ever been inside a Toys-R-Us...
 
My TRU experiences ended over 20 yrs ago. Even then, a problem was simply the immense size of the place, sort of like a toy store version of Home Depot. That meant that kids were pretty much able to get away from mom and dad long enough to tear open packages and play with things on the floor. You needed to grab something from an upper shelf if you didn't want something that had been repackaged several times.
 
We shopped there a LOT when our sons were young in the '90s. The worst part of the experience was always the lowlife parents who allowed their kids to treat the place like an amusement park (kinda like some Wal-Marts these days). They'd leave toys, balls, and tricycles scattered about, and their a-hole parents didn't bother to rein them in or put stuff back. No wonder employees were surly - I'd shovel sh*t before I'd work there.
 
My kids are grown,never found ToysRUs to be a great value,or well managed store.
 
Amazon beats most retailers on selection, price, customer service, and convenience. If the physical retailers want to compete they're going to have to justify their higher prices by offering something useful- like employees who know something about the products and can help you.

Right now if it's not something I need immediately and I don't need to see it in person first I prefer to get it online and not have to deal with the hassle of going to a store. Probably why Amazon is so successful- they get people what they want at a good price with little or no BS.
 
I read a good article that stated we as a society are sliding back towards late 18th century shopping trends.

We only going to the store for items we need now to survive. Besides that we order our stuff online "Sears Catalog", it's loaded onto trucks and planes "railroad", and delivered several days to weeks later.
 
ARFlyer said:
I read a good article that stated we as a society are sliding back towards late 18th century shopping trends.

We only going to the store for items we need now to survive. Besides that we order our stuff online "Sears Catalog", it's loaded onto trucks and planes "railroad", and delivered several days to weeks later.
Click to expand...
All restocked by a slow boat from China
 
When I was growing up, we had a local Toys 'r' Us. Tried to go in there. They wouldn't let me in unless I had my parent with me. Haven't been back since.
 
steingar said:
Another victim of corporate greed. Got bought not that long ago, new owners took on lots and lots of debt to get the property. Couldn't support the debt, so they didn't have the money to take care of the stores. So they all close, lots of little people loose their jobs but the big money guys all get their checks. Sorry, I've seen it before. Same exact thing happened to the grocery store down the street.
Click to expand...

I assume you're referring to KKR. I seriously doubt corporate greed is what took them down. KKR happens to own a sizable portion of the company I work for as well, and we haven't noticed many ill-effects from their management. They do what most other investment firms do, they spend the first year or two trimming the low-hanging fruit to help generate value. They utilize their existing contracts with major suppliers to get lower pricing on goods and services and drive more to the bottom line. They don't go in and strip them of all cash so they can't take care of the stores. TrU suffered from the same problem as many of the legacy brick-n-mortar stores do: they can't compete with online retailers on price/selection. TrU has had some decent pricing over the last few years, which I noticed when buying an annual gift for my nephew. Previously, I'd been in a TrU maybe 3-4 times in my life (as a child) because it was inconveniently located, and much too expensive. If you can't adapt, you will fail. I can't even remember the last time I heard about a new TrU being built, which tells you that the demand likely peaked a long time ago.

There are some things I will pay more for instead of buying online. Children's toys aren't one of them.
 
cowman said:
Amazon beats most retailers on selection, price, customer service, and convenience. If the physical retailers want to compete they're going to have to justify their higher prices by offering something useful- like employees who know something about the products and can help you.

Right now if it's not something I need immediately and I don't need to see it in person first I prefer to get it online and not have to deal with the hassle of going to a store. Probably why Amazon is so successful- they get people what they want at a good price with little or no BS.
Click to expand...

The other great thing about Amazon (and other online retailers) is that I can go through dozens (if not hundreds) of customer reviews to get a feel for the product quality. I could ask someone at Best Buy about an A/V receiver, and they're not likely to know a damn thing about it other than "this is the best because it's the most powerful/expensive".
 
SoonerAviator said:
I assume you're referring to KKR. I seriously doubt corporate greed is what took them down. KKR happens to own a sizable portion of the company I work for as well, and we haven't noticed many ill-effects from their management. They do what most other investment firms do, they spend the first year or two trimming the low-hanging fruit to help generate value. They utilize their existing contracts with major suppliers to get lower pricing on goods and services and drive more to the bottom line. They don't go in and strip them of all cash so they can't take care of the stores. TrU suffered from the same problem as many of the legacy brick-n-mortar stores do: they can't compete with online retailers on price/selection. TrU has had some decent pricing over the last few years, which I noticed when buying an annual gift for my nephew. Previously, I'd been in a TrU maybe 3-4 times in my life (as a child) because it was inconveniently located, and much too expensive. If you can't adapt, you will fail. I can't even remember the last time I heard about a new TrU being built, which tells you that the demand likely peaked a long time ago.

There are some things I will pay more for instead of buying online. Children's toys aren't one of them.
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Swing and miss. TRS was suffering when Amazon was at 4%. Like I said, the big shots get the cash, and the little guys the shaft. Same old story whether you buy it or not. Glad to hear they haven't wrecked your shop, yet.
 
steingar said:
Swing and miss. TRS was suffering when Amazon was at 4%. Like I said, the big shots get the cash, and the little guys the shaft. Same old story whether you buy it or not. Glad to hear they haven't wrecked your shop, yet.
Click to expand...

Not to put a hex on myself, but we generate far too much EBITDA/cash for KKR to go mucking it up, lol. They've got bigger fish to fry. KKR/Bain bought them up after the debt damage was already done. The KKR boys tried to save it, but couldn't get it out of the weight of its own debt. I'm sure they could have poured hundreds of millions into trying to revamp the TRU legacy, but they just decided to cut their losses with the bankruptcy. I don't know that KKR/Bain would be in any mood to give big shots cash for failing to turn TRU around.
 
I say good...I used to love that place but my last trip in there it felt like an oversized Walmart toy store...Toys R Us was owned and managed by private equity firms that used all kinds if financial trickery to finance the sales.

While I am not a fan of the loss of brick and mortar, hopefully it allows for a need to be filled by some smaller mom and pop shops.
 
I used to go for the boobie dolls. :popcorn:

Oh geez, c'mon, I kid I kid!
 
RJM62 said:
We really don't disagree at all. But how many brick-and-mortar stores actually have stuff these days, and have employees who know about that stuff? That's my complaint.

I understand that they have limited floor space. But does it make sense for Best Buy to have an entire aisle full of cases for one phone that they sell, and not a single case for another phone that they sell? You'd think they'd have at least one even if for no reason other than as an upsell. But you'd be wrong. (Employees who weren't morons would be a nice touch, too.)

Rich
Click to expand...
My experience with the local BB is different- I've never walked out of there less than satisfied with the service. Then again I'm not looking for obscure computer components. But I agree that in the phone case, uh case, better inventory control is due.

I have about 4 BB's located within a half hour so if one store doesn't stock something another one probably does.
 
About the only thing brick and mortar stores are good for are seeing the items in person. I then go home and order it online most often from a place where I don't have to pay shipping or tax. For services I stay local but consumer goods are always purchased online unless it's an emergency.
 
ARFlyer said:
I read a good article that stated we as a society are sliding back towards late 18th century shopping trends.

We only going to the store for items we need now to survive. Besides that we order our stuff online "Sears Catalog", it's loaded onto trucks and planes "railroad", and delivered several days to weeks later.
Click to expand...

My parents told me back in their day the Sears Catalog was also used for something else..... If we go back to that, I hope there are no staples holding the catalog together....:hairraise::lol:
 
For those of you looking to still have a great toy store experience, please seek out and support your neighborhood toy store! There are still hundreds all around the country.
http://www.yourneighborhoodtoystore.org/

For the last 10 years, I have owned and operated The Enchanted Toy Store in Orange County (Fullerton until last year, and now in neighboring Placentia).
www.enchantedtoystore.com
 
Zeldman said:
My parents told me back in their day the Sears Catalog was also used for something else..... If we go back to that, I hope there are no staples holding the catalog together....:hairraise::lol:
Click to expand...

Listened to a podcast that covered that topic. They said there was a HUGE uproar when Sears went from newsprint to gloss wax paper. They said a typical catalog could last you a winter. ;)
 
ToysRUs was a disaster in the making for a very long time. Their death was surmised on CNBC for over a decade. Close to two.

The numbers didn’t support a chain of overpriced brick and mortar toy stores in the modern delivered to your doorstep world with Walmart and Target filing in the last minute panic buying gap.

Dead men walking for so long, many were surprised they had died because they thought they died a long time ago.
 
aca67341ed6b2604decd836670150574.jpg
 
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