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

[Matt]

TRU had an online deal on 3DS games on Cyber Monday. Buy Angry Birds Star Wars or TMNT for $29 each, and get another 3DS game free. Most of the really good first-party, $40 first-party Nintendo titles were available in the free game selection. I put in two separate orders, one for TMNT/Mario Kart 7, and the other for ABSW/Super Mario 3D Land. I had no interest in TMNT or ABSW, but figured I could trade them in somewhere, or return them back to TRU for $15 each, as I read about others doing.

I went to the store to pick up my first order for TMNT/MK7. I immediately returned TMNT, expecting to get $15 back. But the CS rep started to give me a cash refund for the whole amount of $32 and change. I told her that I thought she was giving me too much money back, as I was only returning half the order. She said "yes, but this is what the computer is prompting me to give you, so just consider it an early Christmas present from Toys R Us." 

Same thing happened when I got my ABSW/Super Mario 3D Land order a few days later. But that time, I used part of the full refund to buy a 3DS case that I didn't need so that I wouldn't feel so guilty afterward. 

All told, I wound up getting two $40 games and a decent case for about $22 out of pocket. So thanks, TRU! I will look back upon this fondly when you eventually go out of business.

[Jesse James]

I wonder if Family Dollar or Big Lots will have such bargains?

[Nicklab]

It looks like the 2013 Holiday season was not such a good one for TRU.  Ailing Toys ‘R’ Us to lay off nearly 200 employees.

[Phrubruh]

When to TRU and they had a huge display of Colecovision Flashbacks and Intelivision Flashbacks. So I took one to the cash register and they wouldn't sell it to me until Sept 22nd!!! I mean seriously? They put up an entire encap of systems and won't sell them for an entire month. How is that going to look? I asked to see the manager and he still wouldn't sell it to me and said he would have someone take down the entire encap of them. He said the store would get fined if they sold one which is complete BS. We will see if that really happens tomorrow.  Stupid TRU and their DNS dates. Don't they realize that I'm just going to buy it at Amazon anyway?

[Nicklab]

Check out the news from Business Insider.


Toys R Us could file for bankruptcy this week

by Dennis Green
 The toy retailer Toys R Us may be on the brink of filing for bankruptcy.

It's one of several options the chain is considering to pay down $5 billion in debt it owes as a result of a leveraged buyout in 2005, according to The Wall Street Journal.

And a filing could come as soon as this week, according to a new report from CNBC's Lauren Hirsch.

The chain's trio of owners — the private-equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Bain Capital Partners and the real-estate investment trust Vornado Realty Trust — bought the company in a deal worth $6.6 billion, taking it private.

CNBC previously reported that the chain had hired the law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and that it was exploring options to take care of its debt and working with its creditors to stave off filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Chapter 11 protection would allow the company to restructure $400 million in debt due in 2018 then renegotiate the rest, according to CNBC.

The debt crisis looms at a critical time for the toy seller. Toys R Us last year made 40% of its sales in the fourth quarter, thanks to holiday shopping. Vendors are feeling increasingly anxious about the chain's ability to pay down its debts, according to the reports, which could lead to a shortage of toys to stock its shelves and further exacerbate the issue.

Toys R Us has also struggled as it increasingly competes with online retailers in its two main businesses: baby goods and toys.

A Toys R Us representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[Scockery]

Some people are like good riddance, but really...this is it, the last major non-specialty toy retailer in North America.

But the flip side, some people will be forced to grow up and no longer be Toys R Us kids.   

[Nicklab]

To me this reads like TRU is trying to restructure their debt in order to survive.  The key seems to be how long will it be until the hedge funds that own the company just don't see it as profitable anymore.

Clearly, the TRU the business model needs some work.  From our standpoint as Star Wars collectors, we're reasonably hip to which retailers consistently have the hot hand and manage their inventory well.  I keep coming back to Target and the way that chain manages its inventory.  Why are other chains, TRU included, not following suit?  It's time to invest in some big data and get that inventory moving.

[Phrubruh]

There are a lot of toy brands that don't sell out anymore. Why do they keep it around and not put them on clearance? I'm looking at you TFA and Rogue One. Why do they raise the price and then put it back to normal and call it on clearance?

[Darby]

This could last years and lead to TRU coming out just fine. Or, a long, slow death spiral like K-Mart. Too soon to tell, but retail in general is suffering and I think the more dedicated you are to a specific niche, the more vulnerable you are to cannibalization by Amazon.

[EdSolo]

I don't shop at TRU all that frequently anymore, but I usually stop by around Christmas time to look for stuff for my kids.  Last year, it was a complete mess.  You couldn't find a single employee in the whole store to help look for anything.  They only had one register open.  I just ended up saying to hell with and went to Target.  On my way out, there were three or four employees hanging out near the doors to leave.  I think the company just has a general attitude of not caring.

[McMetal]

They did indeed file for Bankruptcy yesterday right here in my hometown of Richmond, VA. 

Long, slow death spiral sounds about right to me. I have been reading a lot of articles on this lately and there just does not seem to be any clear path to restoring financial stability.

It would be heard enough to sustain their business in the current retail climate to begin with, much less saddled with 7+ BILLION dollars of debt that they didn't even incur - thanks to vultures like Bain Capital. Good luck digging out of that hole.

I would be sad to see them go, so many great childhood memories, and a few adult ones too. But given the choice I would never shop there because its such a horrible experience. Everything is overpriced, their "sales" are terrible, they refuse to offer decent clearance prices, there's always a huge line with 1 person working checkout, etc etc. At least Walmart and Target have self check-out.

Hurry up and get those Ackbar and Rey exclusives out!

[Diddly]

I read an interesting article somewhere last night blaming one of their problems on having an awful website, which makes sense. Amazon is easy to navigate, purchase, etc. Can you say the same thing about TRU's site?

It also blamed the stores having massive retail spaces, which don't appear to be a problem here because our local stores at least always having people buying baby stuff from the Babies R Us section, but it's really just the toy section that needs work. CLEARANCE THINGS OUT! My TRU was so clogged with TFA merch that they literally stocked ZERO Rogue One product. I was shocked to see TLJ stuff, although there's very little of it. There is still the mountain of Finns and Zuvios though, all for $19.99. I get that selling it for $2 won't help, but I might buy one or two in hopes they increase in value like other Black Series toys. Every other toyline, same story. I haven't seen any of the new Marvel Legends exclusives because shelves are clogged with 3 year old figures. I see the same WWE and TMNT toys whenever I go there, have for years now. And let's not even get into the absurdity of the "TRU Tax" on LEGO sets.

[Dave]

And let's not even get into the absurdity of the "TRU Tax" on LEGO sets.

This part just blows my mind.  You gotta be in a huge hurry or just ignorant to pay an extra 10% to buy Legos at TRU.  Even when they do a BOGO 40% off you're still generally better off just buying from Amazon or Target with a red card.

The only time I get Legos at TRU is when they've got an exclusive that is interesting, and even then I often buy "their exclusive" via Lego.com to get double VIP points.

[Matt_Fury]

I went to TRU on Force Friday II to pick up a couple of Rathtars for my kids.  I looked in their clearance section and they had two AT-ACTs marked down to $249.99.   

[Diddly]

And let's not even get into the absurdity of the "TRU Tax" on LEGO sets.

This part just blows my mind.  You gotta be in a huge hurry or just ignorant to pay an extra 10% to buy Legos at TRU.  Even when they do a BOGO 40% off you're still generally better off just buying from Amazon or Target with a red card.

The only time I get Legos at TRU is when they've got an exclusive that is interesting, and even then I often buy "their exclusive" via Lego.com to get double VIP points.

I always thought it was a cheap way to swindle a few extra bucks from parents and grandparents who need a quick gift and have no clue what LEGO MSRP is. I can't stand their polybag promotions since they deliberately wait to put the polybags out AFTER the promotion ends, just so they can sell them for $5.99 a pop.