Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us and Maplin fall into administration
by KK » Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:38 am

Wow, that's a lot of jobs binned.

Big retail spaces, be interesting to see what becomes of them.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us and Maplin fall into administration
by Lagamorph » Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:39 am

I wonder if Smyths Toys might snap up a few locations where they don't already have a presence.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Gemini73 » Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:43 am

Next, New Look and M&S are all to close some branches as well. High Street retail isn't doing very well at all.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by KK » Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:59 am

These big warehouse type stores - with none of the benefits of an actual warehouse - were always going to be ill equipped to deal with the internet. Toys R Us should have adapted to become more like Argos. You have relatively small shops (or as the case now is, kiosks in Sainsbury's), stick some of your best items on display, and list the rest of it in a catalogue/online for collection/delivery. Stocking everything, and putting it all on display, doesn't work any more. Toy's R Us also had a piss-poor website.

Supermarkets that have these megaplexes have either closed some, or adapted them to include pharmacies, clothes, cafes, dry cleaners, and in ASDA's case even McDonald's.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Garth » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:03 am

Argos teaming up with eBay seemed a pretty smart move too.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Gemini73 » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:09 am

Argos have seemingly kept up with times. We use them regularly and they've always been very good.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Mafro » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:09 am

KK wrote:These big warehouse type stores - with none of the benefits of an actual warehouse - were always going to be ill equipped to deal with the internet. Toys R Us should have adapted to become more like Argos. You have relatively small shops (or as the case now is, kiosks in Sainsbury's), stick some of your best items on display, and list the rest of it in a catalogue/online for collection/delivery. Stocking everything, and putting it all on display, doesn't work any more. Toy's R Us also had a piss-poor website.

Supermarkets that have these megaplexes have either closed some, or adapted them to include pharmacies, clothes, cafes, dry cleaners, and in ASDA's case even McDonald's.

I honestly thought most of that was already standard for years in large supermarkets. My local Morrisons, Sainsbury's and ASDA have most or all of the above.

The Argos in my town centre recently got refurbished and scaled down with all the kiosks and emphasis on collection and delivery (the same-day delivery is ace). The eBay click and collect is really handy too for larger expensive items. I'm still surprised they bother with a physical catalogue, can't be long before that's binned.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by RainbowGazelle » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:12 am

Gemini73 wrote:Argos have seemingly kept up with times. We use them regularly and they've always been very good.

Sounds like I've picked the right retailer to work for.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Preezy » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:14 am

Of all the retail shopping designs, Argos is the oddest but as others have said, it seems to be working.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Moggy » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:16 am

KK wrote:These big warehouse type stores - with none of the benefits of an actual warehouse - were always going to be ill equipped to deal with the internet. Toys R Us should have adapted to become more like Argos. You have relatively small shops (or as the case now is, kiosks in Sainsbury's), stick some of your best items on display, and list the rest of it in a catalogue/online for collection/delivery. Stocking everything, and putting it all on display, doesn't work any more. Toy's R Us also had a piss-poor website.

Supermarkets that have these megaplexes have either closed some, or adapted them to include pharmacies, clothes, cafes, dry cleaners, and in ASDA's case even McDonald's.


Yeah the big out of town warehouses are really suffering in the internet age, a lot of them didn’t move with the times and their products can now be sold anywhere.

I’d imagine there are a lot of high street shops pissing themselves at the plight of the warehouses, it wasn’t so long ago that the big out of town superstores were being blamed for the death of the high street, now the internet is killing them off in turn.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Corazon de Leon » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:49 am

Moggy wrote:
KK wrote:These big warehouse type stores - with none of the benefits of an actual warehouse - were always going to be ill equipped to deal with the internet. Toys R Us should have adapted to become more like Argos. You have relatively small shops (or as the case now is, kiosks in Sainsbury's), stick some of your best items on display, and list the rest of it in a catalogue/online for collection/delivery. Stocking everything, and putting it all on display, doesn't work any more. Toy's R Us also had a piss-poor website.

Supermarkets that have these megaplexes have either closed some, or adapted them to include pharmacies, clothes, cafes, dry cleaners, and in ASDA's case even McDonald's.


Yeah the big out of town warehouses are really suffering in the internet age, a lot of them didn’t move with the times and their products can now be sold anywhere.

I’d imagine there are a lot of high street shops pissing themselves at the plight of the warehouses, it wasn’t so long ago that the big out of town superstores were being blamed for the death of the high street, now the internet is killing them off in turn.


It's the circle of death. Someday something will kill the internet, too.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Moggy » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:51 am

Corazon de Leon wrote:
Moggy wrote:
KK wrote:These big warehouse type stores - with none of the benefits of an actual warehouse - were always going to be ill equipped to deal with the internet. Toys R Us should have adapted to become more like Argos. You have relatively small shops (or as the case now is, kiosks in Sainsbury's), stick some of your best items on display, and list the rest of it in a catalogue/online for collection/delivery. Stocking everything, and putting it all on display, doesn't work any more. Toy's R Us also had a piss-poor website.

Supermarkets that have these megaplexes have either closed some, or adapted them to include pharmacies, clothes, cafes, dry cleaners, and in ASDA's case even McDonald's.


Yeah the big out of town warehouses are really suffering in the internet age, a lot of them didn’t move with the times and their products can now be sold anywhere.

I’d imagine there are a lot of high street shops pissing themselves at the plight of the warehouses, it wasn’t so long ago that the big out of town superstores were being blamed for the death of the high street, now the internet is killing them off in turn.


It's the circle of death. Someday something will kill the internet, too.


That would be Theresa May and her parties attempts to block porn. Without porn, what would be the point of the internet?

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Lex-Man » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:51 am

Corazon de Leon wrote:
Moggy wrote:
KK wrote:These big warehouse type stores - with none of the benefits of an actual warehouse - were always going to be ill equipped to deal with the internet. Toys R Us should have adapted to become more like Argos. You have relatively small shops (or as the case now is, kiosks in Sainsbury's), stick some of your best items on display, and list the rest of it in a catalogue/online for collection/delivery. Stocking everything, and putting it all on display, doesn't work any more. Toy's R Us also had a piss-poor website.

Supermarkets that have these megaplexes have either closed some, or adapted them to include pharmacies, clothes, cafes, dry cleaners, and in ASDA's case even McDonald's.


Yeah the big out of town warehouses are really suffering in the internet age, a lot of them didn’t move with the times and their products can now be sold anywhere.

I’d imagine there are a lot of high street shops pissing themselves at the plight of the warehouses, it wasn’t so long ago that the big out of town superstores were being blamed for the death of the high street, now the internet is killing them off in turn.


It's the circle of death. Someday something will kill the internet, too.


VR shopping.

Amusement under late capitalism is the prolongation of work.
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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Corazon de Leon » Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:53 am

Moggy wrote:
Corazon de Leon wrote:
Moggy wrote:
KK wrote:These big warehouse type stores - with none of the benefits of an actual warehouse - were always going to be ill equipped to deal with the internet. Toys R Us should have adapted to become more like Argos. You have relatively small shops (or as the case now is, kiosks in Sainsbury's), stick some of your best items on display, and list the rest of it in a catalogue/online for collection/delivery. Stocking everything, and putting it all on display, doesn't work any more. Toy's R Us also had a piss-poor website.

Supermarkets that have these megaplexes have either closed some, or adapted them to include pharmacies, clothes, cafes, dry cleaners, and in ASDA's case even McDonald's.


Yeah the big out of town warehouses are really suffering in the internet age, a lot of them didn’t move with the times and their products can now be sold anywhere.

I’d imagine there are a lot of high street shops pissing themselves at the plight of the warehouses, it wasn’t so long ago that the big out of town superstores were being blamed for the death of the high street, now the internet is killing them off in turn.


It's the circle of death. Someday something will kill the internet, too.


That would be Theresa May and her parties attempts to block porn. Without porn, what would be the point of the internet?


Porn. Oh, wait...

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Preezy » Wed Mar 21, 2018 3:50 pm

Interestingly (or not) I was listening to the Joe Rogan podcast earlier and they discussed the fall of Toys R Us. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the following but apparently the company collapsed not because of the competition from Amazon, but through terrible board-level decisions. The company was taken over by a financial firm that loaded lots of bad debt onto their books and it became unserviceable.

At least that gives you hope that the likes of Smyths can survive for a good while longer, as the "toy store experience" is still quite a special thing. I was there at the weekend with my daughter buying myself a cowboy gun for a fancy dress party on Friday and she loved running up and down the aisles looking at all the toys and stuffed animals. Had to buy her something to avoid a tantrum, which I'm sure is built into their business model :lol:

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Rax » Wed Mar 21, 2018 3:59 pm

Yeah I heard that too, I think it was Bain capital invested in them and offloaded a lot of their debt onto Toys R Us somehow. Sinking Toys R Us but getting the debt off Bains books.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by NickSCFC » Wed Mar 21, 2018 4:19 pm

Is it possible for another company to come along and use the brand?

I didn't use Toys R Us, but I'd like to see the name on the high streets still, similarly to how I'd like to see Poundland rebrand as Woolworths.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Lex-Man » Wed Mar 21, 2018 4:19 pm

Preezy wrote:Interestingly (or not) I was listening to the Joe Rogan podcast earlier and they discussed the fall of Toys R Us. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the following but apparently the company collapsed not because of the competition from Amazon, but through terrible board-level decisions. The company was taken over by a financial firm that loaded lots of bad debt onto their books and it became unserviceable.

At least that gives you hope that the likes of Smyths can survive for a good while longer, as the "toy store experience" is still quite a special thing. I was there at the weekend with my daughter buying myself a cowboy gun for a fancy dress party on Friday and she loved running up and down the aisles looking at all the toys and stuffed animals. Had to buy her something to avoid a tantrum, which I'm sure is built into their business model :lol:


I watched something on youtube that said the same. Essentially they borrowed 80% of the value of the company to buy the company and then added that debt to Toys R Us.

It's called a Leveraged Buyout, it's also not a bad board-level decision, it's a tactic to make short term profit at the cost of the whole company.

The company who oversaw the buyout were Bain capital who are run by Mitt Romney.

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by Preezy » Wed Mar 21, 2018 4:21 pm

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PostRe: Toys'R'Us closing all UK stores by end of April
by KK » Wed Mar 21, 2018 4:48 pm

NickSCFC wrote:Is it possible for another company to come along and use the brand?

I didn't use Toys R Us, but I'd like to see the name on the high streets still, similarly to how I'd like to see Poundland rebrand as Woolworths.

There is precedence for this: The Hut bought the Zavvi name, and Littlewoods/Very purchased Woolworths (which they still own).

Wouldn’t be surprised if somebody purchased Toys R Us.

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