With the weight of declining retail sales this holiday season, reports are coming out from Bloomberg that Toys’R’Us, the only remaining national toy store, is considering closing up to 200 of its retail stores after the holiday season.
Toys’R’Us filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in September as it was unable to pay the millions of dollars of debt that was coming due. However, due to its inability to pay toy manufacturers for the product on its shelves – specifically Hasbro and Mattel – the toy shopping season has dropped upwards of 15% compared to last year.
The exact number of potential store closings is only speculation, but the report from Bloomberg states from insiders that the company is projecting at least 100 stores and up to 200 stores total. This report comes on the heels of another report that stated Toys’R’Us won the ability in court to make sure their executives were paid $15 million dollars in bonuses for the 2017 fiscal year.
Our thoughts go out to the hard working employees who could be impacted by store closings. As to what could happen to upcoming Power Rangers Legacy items, which are exclusive to Toys’R’Us, is currently up in the air. We’ll keep you updated.
http://news.tokunation.com/2017/12/1...d-states-48306
But the executives fought to get $15 million in bonuses for 2017. Assholes.
Fucking magnificent. -_-
The fuck I was just at Toys R Us today and will be at one tomorrow. I hope they are not getting shut down mainly for the employees. Fuck the exclusives.
But the executives fought to get $15 million in bonuses for 2017. Assholes.
More than a few questions follow this!
- Has an official list of closing stores been released yet?
- Could closing some of the stores help with their economic situation, hopefully leading to a revival in the brand?
- If the chain goes "belly-up", could someone else cover the gap and replace them as a national toy mecca?
This is personal rambling, but I do believe that the prevalence of online shopping has failed to deliver in one aspect: Reliable, One-Stop-Shopping from a trusted retailer with warehouses of licensed products! There was a time when Toys-R-Us had when no one else did! If nature abhors a vacuum, then can the Internet (and its current issues) cover the gap, or will something else emerge?
- Given the enormous influx of products not found ANYWHERE ELSE and EXCLUSIVES...who will be left to market them?
- Has an official list of closing stores been released yet?
For those interested, the Guardian this morning reports that the UK division is going the same way despite earlier assurances to the contrary. Toys R Us employs 3,200 people in the UK, who all face redundancy if the firm can't agree to restructuring.
Does anyone know which of the confirmed upcoming releases were meant to be TRU exclusive?
This is a distinct lesson in corporate greed. I'd love to expand, but it doesn't matter because ultimately everyone loses except the shareholders.
As for the news itself, this is very disappointing. Not because I care about Toys R Us itself, I'm indifferent to the store itself, but it would suck for so many people to loss their jobs.
They can close some of the Puerto Rico locations, those places got really messed up during Maria.
Keep reading: ToysRUs Considers Closing up to 200 stores - Page 2
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