Toys R Us closures incoming

[Carrehz]

With the two TRUs that closed near me (well, 'near', they're both like an hour away, but, you know), they didn't start on the serious price reductions until they were closer to closing up shop. Maybe it'll be the same for the US stores?

[Icey]

Oh man, that sounds bad. Their online store is HORRIBLE. I try not to go on there unless I absolutely have to. I have told them several times that it is their prices that get them in trouble. Why would you go to TRU and spend $2-8 more for Barbie clothes. Sometimes their mark up is insane. I can get the same stuff at Target for a lot cheaper.

Post Merge: February 27, 2018, 10:58:50 AM

With the two TRUs that closed near me (well, 'near', they're both like an hour away, but, you know), they didn't start on the serious price reductions until they were closer to closing up shop. Maybe it'll be the same for the US stores?

That is probably the case here too. I honestly do not need anything from BRU, but I would pick up stuff for my niece if it was a good deal

[Bekuno]

Oh man, that sounds bad. Their online store is HORRIBLE. I try not to go on there unless I absolutely have to. I have told them several times that it is their prices that get them in trouble. Why would you go to TRU and spend $2-8 more for Barbie clothes. Sometimes their mark up is insane. I can get the same stuff at Target for a lot cheaper.

This is what I believe is killing them. People like to get up in arms over kids only being interested in their screens but Toys R Us is probably the most expensive place I've ever been to. Even their outlet stores are expensive. The ONLY reason I shop there is for "exclusives", I can get way better deals at other stores. Why waste the money?

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Oh man, that sounds bad. Their online store is HORRIBLE. I try not to go on there unless I absolutely have to. I have told them several times that it is their prices that get them in trouble. Why would you go to TRU and spend $2-8 more for Barbie clothes. Sometimes their mark up is insane. I can get the same stuff at Target for a lot cheaper.

This is what I believe is killing them. People like to get up in arms over kids only being interested in their screens but Toys R Us is probably the most expensive place I've ever been to. Even their outlet stores are expensive. The ONLY reason I shop there is for "exclusives", I can get way better deals at other stores. Why waste the money?

No articles have been mentioning the price, but even when I was little my mother would protest when I said I wanted to shop there because the prices are pretty up there compared to Target and Walmart, both of which are just easier to access. They also have the convenience of not completely relying on toys to make their sales and cover costs, and they both have exclusives around the holidays.

[AnnabellDerwin]

There's two in my state closing down, but the one that's closet isn't closing and I'm gonna consider that a good thing haha

[Khoufu]

One an hour from me is closing and I hope they have Tamagotchis on sale.

[Taffeta]

And it seems like TRU will soon be a thing of the past in the UK completely.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43225248

I am not sure how I feel about this. I've only had access to a TRU for a couple of years and will probably lose that in September anyway. I love going to TRU but the prices are crazy. I still miss Woolworths horribly because so many of my ponies came from there as a kid, but TRU has always been something of a mythical beast to me.

:/

Smyths and Entertainer are just plain cheaper.

I feel sorry for the people and their jobs. But to be blunt, why would anyone buy a toy store chain in a country doing its absolute best to kill all its trade deals with its nearest neighbours? If we weren't leaving the EU, I suspect someone would probably have bought it. But everything is too uncertain here at the moment...why bother?

[Mlp Sunsparkle]

I heard the news too  I hope something last minute can come through, but it’s looking more and more unlikely as time goes on. I feel so bad for all the employees, and I hope they are able to find new jobs straight away. Two of my cousins work in my local TRU.

 I’m very sad that it’s likely to close, it has always been one of, (if not my favourite) shop ever since I was tiny! There used to be an archway between two of the pink aisles and it played music and had lights and it was my favourite thing to visit! They got rid of it long ago but it’s sad that There won’t even be a TRU here anymore 

Taffeta, I totally agree about why it hasn’t been bought, and it sucks 
Mlp Sunsparkle x

[ringwraith10]

There are a bunch of stores in the metro Atlanta area closing, but the ones I go to most often (well, at ALL because I don't usually go to TRU) are staying open for now. The one near where I live (which I haven't actually visited yet) also looks like it's staying open. I may travel down to Atlanta to look for deals, though.

[Carrehz]

[prancingstag]

It's sad to be hearing this news but not entirely unexpected. By what I've heard from a large variety of fellow toy collectors, they all moved on from TRU years ago. The prices were too high, selection too small, too slow to restock or bring in new waves, too much damage done to stock by the general public, and locations were out of the way and poorly maintained with ancient 90s decor. Even their online store is pretty useless and a huge headache to try and go through. You can find plenty of other locations whether irl or online that have better prices, selection and customer service.

TRU Australia hasn't announced anything yet but I see this happening to us in the near future the stores always have a fair whack of people in them, but parents will stroll slowly through the store with their little ones and leave without buying anything, or just sit around in the sport/vehicle aisles and let their children play with the stock like a free playcentre for an hour or so. Very little purchasing happens, at least whenever I'm there, and I haven't bought anything from a TRU in the past two years or more.

[Taffeta]

Those are most of the reasons the media here has cited as well. It's pretty grim. I went to my TRU (the flagship, or one of them, for the UK), this morning and it...was not good. They just had it refurbished too. There is still the banner saying new store open, alongside the store closing administration notices. It made me really sad, because they just put in things like the pony hot air balloon for kids to play in and the Trex that roars and waves its legs around, and it's all going to be gone. And the staff - having to process this whole sale while not knowing about their jobs. I remember when the library closed, and we had to sell off the books left, and that's not a nice feeling. And they really don't know their future.

TRU's prices have been bad for a while though. I have never lived around a TRU until I moved to this part of London. None of my childhood ponies came from there. I never got TRU exclusives in G3 except ones picked up by a lovely friend in the US or my friend in Stoke...I have picked up a few from G4 and I have a couple of ILF Monster High dolls which I am glad I got from living here - but in the bigger picture, TRU hasn't moved with the times.

I do think, though, if not for the economic uncertainty, someone would have bought it - or some of it. But then again there's fierce competition in the UK from Smyths and Entertainer, especially Smyths which are much cheaper in general. In the bigger picture, I don't think losing TRU will impact horribly on collectors of toys. But I can't help feeling sad for the kids who won't get to go play in that balloon or just run riot around a big toy store...and the staff who don't know yet what their future holds and whether they're out of a job.

I bought a couple of ponies today as a sort of memento. One of them was Applejack from the ribbon-in-hair release. Her card says 2015. She was the only one. The only normal brushable in the whole store left. I couldn't leave her there. I don't have any ribbon release ponies, so I guess she's it.

Very sad

On another note, I really wish we had Target in the UK. It sounds like an amazingly fun store to go shopping in We do get Target stuff in Tesco and occasionally, illicitly with the Target logo in other places, but I still think it would be cool. We have Walmart, via Asda...but no Target

[Carrehz]

Welp, turns out the TRU ~15 mins away from me is closing, too. I'm really going to miss it, it's the only toy shop near where I live (all the others are like an hour away at least). Damn it. I really thought that one at least stood a chance of lasting longer even if it did close eventually, it always seemed pretty popular..

[lovesbabysquirmy]

annnnnnnnnnnnnd more bad news:  the store closures are not likely to stop, and furthermore, ALL of the TRU USA stores could be liquidating soon:

http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,390657.0.html

[goddessofpeep]

Very sad:(

TRU going down is going to be a huge punch to the gut to the entire toy industry.  It is the last dedicated toy store national chain left. It killed off all its competition years ago.  Already most of the major toy manufacturers have seen huge stock drops since the announcement.  A lot of smaller toy makers rely on TRU to get their stuff out to the public.  This is a devastating blow to the entire toy industry. 

Over here, TRU has the largest MLP section of any store, and it's always stocked.  TRU gets things in pretty quickly too.  The prices are retail, but there are frequent sales.  Good ones too. 

I spent most of my childhood at TRU.  As a kid, I'd spend *hours* there looking at ponies, and as an adult, I was hunting for ponies hardcore at TRU for years.  I happened to live near a TRU that was the first one in the world to get a lot of things when the G3s were out, and I took great advantage of it.  TRU has also been great for video game purchases if you couldn't get a preorder - they always had some in stock on the day if you were willing to brave the line.  I even found the TRU in Paris when I was there, and that one trip basically gave me the core of my G2 collection. 

Very, very sad:(