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ToysRUs going to the wall - avoidable?

edited December 2017 in Not Sports Related
10% drop off in toy shop sales this year and it looks like they are going under.

Is it the rise of internet shopping, and could they have done more to improve the experience?
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Comments

  • internet shopping is killing everything, everything is next day delivery these days and often have options to have it pre 10/9am, and usually a lot cheaper.
  • Rise of Internet Shopping hasn't helped, especially with Amazon Prime meaning you dont have to wait long... Originally it was the High Street that was replaced by the Superstore and Supermarket, now it seems to be the age of the Online Outlet (i.e. Amazon started as a company selling Books... Now you can buy anything!!)

    Purchased a cot from there for the Baby a few months ago (paying it off on a monthly basis via. their layaway option) - Wasn't going to collect it till tomorrow yet got to Tuesday and thought I'd get down there that evening to collect just in case the worst happened.
  • edited December 2017
    My experience was their stores were too remote, experience was grim and cold. Smyths quite different although could also be a lot better, but they are doing OK. I was in Hamleys last week which the wife insists on doing with the nipper, and they of course do it much better although again could be better (nightmare being up town that close to xmas though).

    I deffo think there is something missing with the experience these stores offer, and quite often the range they offer too. Perhaps they should also combine an online element though too, but there is something that online doesn't provide that they can. I think retail as such will become more destination based like Bluewater/Westfield though as probably the only way they can survive.
  • happening with a lot of industries i work for a plumbing and heating company who have a small merchants that will be closing in march, due to companies like screwfix doing it all and buying products in a lot cheaper than we can get.
  • From the comments online from staff/ex-staff, this seems to be down to mismanagement on a massive scale. Smyths are cited as doing much much better and being the main cause of ToysRUs' problems rather than online competition.

    As noted above, it's a rather sterile experience when you go into their stores. It should be a place of wonder and joy for kids, not just a supermarket that has games on the shelves instead of beans.

    Regarding online, they should have been in the perfect position to exploit it. Strong brand, mature warehousing and logistics systems in place, plenty of locations to allow for click and collect. Like many traditional stores, they seem to have reacted late and poorly to online threats.
  • Their stock keep has always been their downfall.

    Who in their right minds thought it would be wise to have millions of Jeffries all under one roof?

    Thats done me!.
  • Their stock keep has always been their downfall.

    Who in their right minds thought it would be wise to have millions of Jeffries all under one roof?

    Just fucking laughed out loud at my desk at that and my boss is in a grumpy mood so just gave me the death stare

    Quality
  • Toy shopping has never been the same since Hubble Bubble in Blackfen and Showells at The Oval closed.
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  • Always been a terrible shop.
  • Toy shopping has never been the same since Hubble Bubble in Blackfen and Showells at The Oval closed.

    Always liked Phillips at the bottom of East Hill in Dartford, great for Scalextric and Hornby stuff.
  • Toys are just not what children want now. Even the very young just want technology.
  • Damn. When I first saw the title, I saw "TorysRUs going to the wall"...
  • I always found Toys R Us quite good. Last couple of years I've booked stuff online & collected from a store a day or two later & many of the stores are in retail parks & so easy to park & no hassle.

    I did hear that one of the current problems isn't to do with lack of sales but the fact that they have to put over £10m into their pension fund before a buyer can be found.
  • Well, business is business and things move along.

    Hate the thought of people losing jobs, but really, if you cant keep up then demise is inevitable.

    Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, Apple (Itunes) Youtube/google)....The purchase of Books, TV, music has taken a different turn due to smartphone age internet access....Then branching off that, you have spotify, now tv, twitter, instagram etc.
    Amazon is really the only enormous company of those that's majorly unrivaled. They have the money to use anyone's idea that might be appealing for customers and just worm it in. They are untouchable.

    They have made some things undeniably convenient and time saving. Netflix basically sticks two fingers up at the idea of getting dvds as xmas gifts. I would have been all over war of the planet of the apes this year but due to netflix, I just cant be f*cked to put a disc in. Id rather wait for it to be released on netflix or just never watch it.

    Goodbye blockbusters, Hmv and probably a lot of other companies I cant remember.

    Surprised WH smith still has legs.
  • What with the intetnet, the "big 4" (but mainly Tesco) and out of town precincts like Bluewater, all that will be left on the high streets will be fast food outlets, betting shops and the odd haberdashery here and there
  • To be fair the major supermarkets had more to do with the likes of Blockbusters closing than Amazon. Why pay £5 to rent a DVD when you can buy if for £8 from Tesco and keep it forever or sell it on eBay for £3 after you’ve had it for six months and have watched it dozens of times.

    I was too old for toys by the time the first Toys R Us opened near where I lived but I used to take my son for a walk around looking for stuff. I quite liked it. I especially liked the fact that they are close to big car parks and have large stock levels. It’s also fun in itself looking at all the Lego or Stat Wars toys in the flesh, opposed to a photo on a PC monitor.

    My son has outgrown toys as well now so we don’t go there anymore but I doubt our small contribution will have led to their problems.
  • What with the intetnet, the "big 4" (but mainly Tesco) and out of town precincts like Bluewater, all that will be left on the high streets will be fast food outlets, betting shops and the odd haberdashery here and there

    and Turkish barbers.
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  • What with the intetnet, the "big 4" (but mainly Tesco) and out of town precincts like Bluewater, all that will be left on the high streets will be fast food outlets, betting shops and the odd haberdashery here and there

    and Turkish barbers.
    and Charity shops.
  • edited December 2017
    Carter said:

    What with the intetnet, the "big 4" (but mainly Tesco) and out of town precincts like Bluewater, all that will be left on the high streets will be fast food outlets, betting shops and the odd haberdashery here and there

    and Turkish barbers.
    Bar a few exceptions every high street is the same victims of this corporate vandalism

    Councils aren't blameless, they should have made town centre parking cheaper if not free years ago to help local economies out.

    Councils continue to trouser business rates that make independent retail almost impossible, then they bleat about rejuvenating high streets and aren't Amazon etc. terrible. Councils are more than doing their bit to kill off independent retail too.
  • Carter said:

    What with the intetnet, the "big 4" (but mainly Tesco) and out of town precincts like Bluewater, all that will be left on the high streets will be fast food outlets, betting shops and the odd haberdashery here and there

    and Turkish barbers.
    Bar a few exceptions every high street is the same victims of this corporate vandalism

    Councils aren't blameless, they should have made town centre parking cheaper if not free years ago to help local economies out.
    We’re lucky where we live. The nearest town is Nantwich which isn’t huge but has very few chain stores. Lots of one off family businesses and you can buy pretty much everything you need. That’s where high streets will likely go - specialist shops that offer something different. The best bakers I’ve ever used, the best butcher and so on. Plus lots of one off clothes shops that even manage to keep Mrs M very happy.

    Chester is the nearest big shopping area and although it looks beautiful it is still full of the standard stock stores selling the same old shit.

    Back to ToysRUs - that model just doesn’t work anymore.

  • Looks like they've just been saved from Administration thanks to a last minute deal
  • Looks like they've just been saved from Administration thanks to a last minute deal

    Won't last - it's just kicking the can down the road a year or two at best. Pension still has a big black hole, was 90m+ I believe, US parent about to go bankrupt or trying not to. It's just the Creditors trying to get the most p in the £.

    Unless these types of businesses move with the times they'll all go under.
  • What with the intetnet, the "big 4" (but mainly Tesco) and out of town precincts like Bluewater, all that will be left on the high streets will be fast food outlets, betting shops and the odd haberdashery here and there

    and cash for gold shops
  • As AFKA said earlier, all those Jeffries, they’re now homeless, right on top of Xmas

  • Maybe Katrien can buy them all, give them all a comp half season ticket and claim massively boosted attendance....
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