Toys R Us (Or: Die, Dinosaur, Die!)

[Pete_Fett]

No Pete I was talking about the basic figure two pack of Rey and Praetorian Guard.  Luke was just a random basic someone had hidden.

Ahh, that makes A LOT more sense - thanks for clarifying...

[Muftak]

Took my kids to our TRU to look around today and finally found something I'd bite at: the Imperial Bike with AT-DP Pilot. They had a few of them along with the Ezra Bike and Kanan Y-Wing filling six feet of display space in an aisle far removed from the Star Wars section. Only $10, which was the price I was looking for back in 2016.

[Phrubruh]

I've seen a lot of those. The 99 cents only store had them for $7.99 last Christmas. Why weren't they 99cents at the 99 cents only store?

[McMetal]

I got a bunch of those for $5 when Walmart was blowing them out, great deal.

Tuesday Morning still has a few on the shelves now for $10 too...

[Nicklab]

The remaining TRU stores near me are now liquidating at a 60 - 80% off level.  That appears to be the final level before a store closes.

The store I went to today was pretty depressing.  Most of the store was roped off and they were trying to sell the fixtures.  The Star Wars stock was in various places, and pretty well picked over.  As much as I'd like to buy another First Order Snowspeeder, Resistance Ski Speeder or Y-wing Scout Bomber for 60% off?  I just wasn't interested enough to deal with a line that looked like it would take at least 20 minutes to get to the register.

Probably the most sad thing?  My kid mentioned to me during the week that she was sad that Toys R Us was closing.  And she was wondering if there was going to be a toy store that we could go to. 

[Muftak]

I was at TRU with my kids today too. My 8-year old pointed out a flyer on the door that said "final 7 days" and we concurred that this would probably be our last time in the store.

Ours looked the same as yours. I took them up on a Scout Y-Wing (hadn't bought one yet) for $8, my sons got Lego tape for cheap and a knock-off Beyblade stadium for a buck, and there was not really much else we cared to look at.

The lines seemed long, but the service desk pulled us out of line to get rung up there. I guess as long as you didn't have a cartful you were okay...I saw an Amish family with two carts loaded with every Pixar "Cars" playset they had left (which must have been fifty or so.) Not sure if those are headed for a tourist gift shop or what, but the service desk was good about getting the people with just a couple things out the door.

That particular TRU has been my stomping grounds since it opened in 1989...I bought my first POTF2 figures there, fondly remember preordering my Nintendo64 there when that was a new and exciting option...and much more recently spending time hanging out in the "Thomas and Friends" aisle while the boys played with the train table. It will be missed.

[Nicklab]

I was watching CNBC this morning, and they reported that the remaining TRU stores in the U.S. will likely close by the end of this week.  My personal travels take me by the TRU corporate headquarters campus at least a couple of times a week, as well.  And they have signs by the road indicating that they're selling off their office equipment at deep discounts.

[Nicklab]

Check out this news:

Party City to open Toy City stores in wake of Toys R Us demise

• Party City will open roughly 50 Toy City pop-up stores in September.
• The locations will sit alongside its Halloween City shops and run through the holiday season.
• The company hopes to capitalize on Toys R Us' demise, which left a void in the toy industry.

From what I can see, Party City is a national chain with locations all over the U.S.  But the pop-up nature of this project means that they may just be testing the waters in the toy business.

[Chris M]

My daughter and I went in for one last look today with stuff 70-90% off.  There was virtually nothing left with the exception of some Oakland A's Sonny Gray McFarlane figure.  If you know baseball, Gray hasn't pitched for Oakland since the middle of last season.  There were a couple of random things here and there, but that was about it aside from shelving that was for sale.  I did manage to score some 9v batteries for $2 a package. 

But, a bittersweet time in my life closed today.  The one I visited with my daughter is the same one my mom used to take me to when I'd come to visit her.

I've said before, it's no wonder TRU is closing it's doors...old selection, no rotation of new items, over priced and no sales.  They just couldn't cut it with Walmart and Target in regards to brick and mortar, and then there was no way they could compete with Amazon online.

[CorranHorn]

I got a chance on Sunday to goto my childhood TRU, which also happened to be next to the high school I went to. All that was left from SW were items that every store around me has had in bulk; TFA speeder bike, 40th ann TBS Vader, Vader masks, and BB,8 playsets. All overpriced, even at clearance, which is appropriate for a TRU. Nevertheless, It was very sad to walk through the bones of the store where I got so many Star Wars, GI Joe, and Transformers toys along with the SNES.

Farewell Riverview TRU...

[Phrubruh]

I was up in Provo UT coming down from our trip to Yellowstone. It was the last day that TRU was open and really nothing left but about a half dozen Constable Zuvio for $3.99. Even at that price no one was touching them. I passed and I don't even have the figure.

[Rob]

I popped in on Thursday for my last visit.  It was also picked over but I did buy a 4K copy of the last Ghostbusters movie for like $5.  Because why not.

[Matt_Fury]

I popped in on Thursday for my last visit.  It was also picked over but I did buy a 4K copy of the last Ghostbusters movie for like $5.  Because why not.

Which Ghostbusters movie?

[Nicklab]

I just couldn't bring myself to go to TRU again this past week.  My last stop in a little over a week ago was just sad.  The closed off aisles, the scattershot way the product was on shelves.  I definitely didn't want to bring my kid into a setting like that.  I'm much more interested in bringing her to Toy City or KB Toys when those pop-up stores start opening.

But then there have been the social media posts about how some are working to bring TRU back in some way.  One group seems to be led by a former CEO.  But I can't see Bain, KKR and Vornado letting the TRU trademarks go to new owners before the hedge funds that own it all are able to take all of the tax benefits for their losses.

[McMetal]

I was broke all last week and when I finally went by for the last time on Friday they were already closed. 

Really bummed I missed that last chance nostalgia.