All United States stores https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/15/toys-r-us-is-closing-all-of-its-us-stores-heres-where-they-are.html Toys R Us is planning to either close or sell all of its more than 800 stores across the U.S. The company is shopping a plan that could ultimately save roughly 200 stores from going dark if it's able to find a buyer. This would be in conjunction with saving the Canadian business. Toys R Us had already begun liquidating about 180 stores, under both the Toys R Us and Babies R Us banners, as part of its restructuring efforts to revive the business. The retailer filed for bankruptcy protection last September, weighed down by nearly $5 billion in debt. Most recently, the company has struggled to pay on loans, and lenders had been pushing management to pursue a complete liquidation of the U.S. business. The abrupt shuttering of Toys R Us' massive store fleet will leave a chunk of vacant real estate on the market. Landlords will be scrambling to find tenants for those locations that aren't owned directly by the toy retailer. Many of Toys R Us' stores today are leased back to a separate entity created by the company known as Toys R Us Property Co., or Propco. Real estate investment trusts including Kimco, Brixmor and DDR own a handful of stores, while the remainder are owned directly by Toys R Us. According to real estate analysts, the likely scenario for many of these spaces will include remodeling for multiple occupants. Most of the Toys R Us and Babies R Us locations are more than 40,000 square feet in size, and some are more than 65,000. Tenants such as Dick's Sporting Goods and Best Buy, which also tend to occupy bigger boxes, aren't expanding as rapidly anymore, leaving fewer logical replacements for these stores. — Reporting by Lauren Thomas. Data visualization by John Schoen.
End of an era man. I'm gonna walk into a Toys R us today just to remember how it felt walking into one when i was a kid. Granted I was poor then but I always remember the day I got my first check working in high school, went and bought my dreamcast there.
I had a summer job there working in the back warehouse area, basically spent the days putting together bikes, powerwheels and whatever else people wanted assembled. On breaks, or when i was board, i'd hang at the gaming aisle and get some time in on whatever they had out. It was a great summer job for a young buck.
I can only recall being in a Toys R' Us one time as a kid and that was around when that game "Dark Tower" came out. I just remember seeing it out on display. I do recall being overwhelmed with the amount of toys everywhere that seemed to crawl up every wall. It's possible I could have shopped there a lot as a kid in tow with my parents and just don't remember it. But, I didn't have a lot of toys as a kid. I had a key select few, like "Hungry Hippo" and "Operation". I had some board games like "Risk", "Monopoly", "Chutes & Ladders", and "Life". I remember being fascinated with the "Jaws" toy which was a shark with a working mouth and you like stuck little items in its mouth (never owned it, though). It was so dumb in retrospect but this was back when "Jaws" came out. I don't recall having any Star Wars collectibles but I did have a SW coloring book which I still have today (would probably be worth some money if I didn't draw in it...doh!). I had a pull string G.I. Joe at one time and a "Six Million Dollar Man" figure with the bionic eye (lol). I had the original Atari. And, I used to play war with the little soldier stick figures that you buy in bags. It was much simpler times then. Then, went through a D&D phase. Now, I just can't believe when I walk into some houses and literally see a whole room overflowing with toys. Kids seem so spoiled now. Or, maybe it's just "more more more" because there are a lot more choices?
I read some years ago Toys R Us was one of the most abusive, anti-competitive retailers in existence and (among other things) regularly used their dominant position in the market to bully companies into retailing via Toys R Us exclusively.
The biggest thing about having a toys r us was for convenience. We're going to a kids birthday "shoot, forgot a present, let's hop out at Toy r us and get something." Now it'll have to be walmart or target I suppose. Or I'll actually have to plan at least two days ahead one day and order from Amazon. It was pretty cool taking my son there, and letting him know he could pick one toy, and seeing him wonder the isles looking for THE toy. I wonder what will move into their locations, considering most retail is hurting.
Still hurts peeps. Toy manufacturers are losing a key distributor. Toys R Us accounted for 15-20% of US toy sales last year, according to investment bank Jefferies. The worry is that without a dedicated major chain selling their wares, toymakers like Mattel and Hasbro will have to fight with other products to attract customers at more varied retailers (like Walmart and Amazon). The end result could mean fewer Barbies and Nerf guns get sold – which is why the stock prices of both Mattel (-c.12%) and Hasbro (-c.6%) have taken a tumble since the news broke.
Walking into a Toys R Us as a kid was like walking into heaven. Toys everywhere and you didn't know where to begin. RIP
Man a piece of my childhood has died now. I never received many presents growing up, but I was always allowed one toy under 30 dollars from Toys R Us on my birthday. Going there with my dad growing up was always one of the biggest highlights of being a kid. As an adults there were some higher end collectible toys that only were exclusive at Toys R Us such as the Transformers Masterpiece collection that other stores like WalMart/Target would not carry. Maybe that license from Hasbro may go to other retailers now if not online toy stores. The last few times I walked into a Toys R Us it was usually fairly dead with a ton of stuff on the shelves. Online business definitely killed this monster. Man looks like I've grown up now and no longer a Toys R Us kid.
I didn't get pinkeye but I remember getting dizzy from playing with the Gameboy VR and throwing up in Toys R Us.
Lots of memories of Toys R Us in the 80s and early 90s. I collected Starting Lineups with my Dad, so many a trip looking for the latest/greatest rookie figures. I didn't like it after they re-designed the store in the early 2000s. I liked it better when it was long aisle after long aisle of toys from front to back of the store. Seemed like it went on forever when you were 8 years old. Read an interesting article that Toys R Us probably could have survived if the investment companies that bought it a few years ago didn't saddle it with so much debt. It was spending $400m a year just to service the debt. Also way too many stores...should have shrunk a decade ago and you'd probably still have a viable business, even with internet. This is going to kill a lot of Toy manufacturers. Walmart and Target only carry the primary lines of toys from big names. A lot of the tier 2 and tier 3 toy lines were only found at Toys R Us, even from the large manufacturers.
with KB Toys gone already, Toys R Us is the last to leave my childhood Most of memories going there is checking out the video game section. They always sold their games MSRP but had decent sales once in awhile. I always was in awe when I looked at the $650 Neo-Geo behind a glass display, the Genesis Nomad, and pre-ordering Mortal Kombat 2 and got a sweet shirt with it. Sucks that I won't be able to bring my future kid and see the smile on his/her face when they step foot in it
Last time I went into a Toys R Us was to look for the Breaking Bad figures after the story broke about all those uptight mothers wanting them off the shelves. I went to the one on Bunker Hill and they were already pulled.
I remember there was nothing better than looking at the NES and Sega walls when my parents agreed to buy me a game...... and before that those magical Transformer and He Man toy aisles.......
I guess pretty soon kids are going to have to start doing virtual toy trips online wearing VR headsets? There isn't going to be a real toy store left with a complete selection to walk through. I'm sorry but walking through a Walmart or Target...UGH...isn't the same experience. The other store I used to shop as a kid (or young teen) where I felt like a kid in a candy store was "Babbage's Software" up near Baybrook Mall back when games were plentiful and really pretty crappy...and computers were pretty new (486 / 33 anyone? lol).
