R.I.P. Toys R Us

Peaches... Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time...

Back in the day before CDs they had the best used vinyl and bootlegs section. When the videotape market took off they gave up a lot of floorspace to sell movies. Music was a side market after that.

I still have my old wood crates.


Peaches.jpg
 
JediMichael said:
I think it was 6 or 7 (maybe more by now)years ago, that they were planning to turn part of the mall, into some big hotel like place. Something like that. I forget....and apparently they did too.
I guess the cost was more than they wanted vs how much money they expected to take in.
I've seen some recent pics people put on FB....it is sad. I think it was Christmas eve 1996, two of my friends and I walked around that mall, and it was so packed, it was hard to move around....
I know the Oviedo Mall has been a ghost town for probably even longer. That place seems to have a near curse on it, with stores coming and going so fast. I can imagine if the theater wasn't there....
Click to expand...
The internet and Amazon killed the malls.
We have a similar situation here as well (and I'm sure every city in America has a dying mall). 20 years ago this particular mall was PACKED during the holidays. Now, well, let's just say that it's at almost 50% capacity. The last chain store left is Champs, and they are leaving after Christmas. It's so bad that they don't even have a security team any more. Now it's all either vacant stores, or little mom and pop stores that stay open for a month or two then they're gone as well. Mall "management" has stopped enforcing opening and closing hours. They seem to have an "just come in to your store when you have time" kind of attitude. On the plus side, it gives the wife and I a place to do our routine "hour walk" every evening when the weather is nasty. I addition, it gives my son and his friends a place to play laser tag! Seriously! I mean for a two level mall, how can they possibly keep their doors open. It has to cost a small fortune to light it, climate controlled, insurance etcetera. When we went last night we counted 4 "customers" walking around...that includes the top and bottom floors.
 
Funky said:
The internet and Amazon killed the malls.
We have a similar situation here as well (and I'm sure every city in America has a dying mall). 20 years ago this particular mall was PACKED during the holidays. Now, well, let's just say that it's at almost 50% capacity. The last chain store left is Champs, and they are leaving after Christmas. It's so bad that they don't even have a security team any more. Now it's all either vacant stores, or little mom and pop stores that stay open for a month or two then they're gone as well. Mall "management" has stopped enforcing opening and closing hours. They seem to have an "just come in to your store when you have time" kind of attitude. On the plus side, it gives the wife and I a place to do our routine "hour walk" every evening when the weather is nasty. I addition, it gives my son and his friends a place to play laser tag! Seriously! I mean for a two level mall, how can they possibly keep their doors open. It has to cost a small fortune to light it, climate controlled, insurance etcetera. When we went last night we counted 4 "customers" walking around...that includes the top and bottom floors.
Click to expand...
Although, I'm still surprised at how outside malls do better, like in Fl. Although, I haven't been there in 5 years, so maybe they are also dying.
While amazon can be convenient with some things, I still think there just something about physically going to a store, especially around Christmas, and enjoying the atmosphere. Kinda reminds me of the old Christmas movies now.
In 20 to 30 more years, its going to be like internet only...with maybe a few stores left to actually go to in person.
 
Online retail is only part of the story.

One of the most overlooked reasons malls have been dying is investor groups started buying them to use as tax write-offs. They had a conflict of interest. If a mall was successful it became difficult at the end of the fiscal year to mitigate losses. Therefore they managed the malls in ways to insure their failure. Poor upkeep, driving out tenants, attracting low quality vendors, vacant food courts, the list goes on.

The fact is there's big money in losing money if you know tax law.
 
Jodo said:
I had a business trip to Minneapolis, so stopped by the new Toysrus store. They surprisingly had Walmart and Target exclusives stocked. Nothing was priced though, so I didn’t buy anything.


View attachment 1768647
Click to expand...
Why wasn't anything priced?

I remember I knew Toys R Us was in trouble when I was looking for Star Wars figures during the Prequel days and not finding them at a Toys R Us but at a Target...

I hate getting the occasional modern figure at a Walmart or Target. It's usually messy and with only a few figures per character if you are lucky. Nothing like the aisles I grew up with.
 
It is a bit weird to not see a price, like they are hiding it....
Maybe the prices are having to be super high to run even the one store?
 
This company called Super7 had a G.I. Joe Kickstarter type thing going for a Cobra Mothership failed last night. Of course they aren't Hasbro with their HasbroPulse Kickstarter projects But I hope this is the beginning of the end of these crowd funding things which I really don't like. Super7 is sketchy at best from what I've seen.

Already successful companies like Hasbro shouldn't be crowd funding. But we'll see with the next one since they just shipped the Cobra Hisstank after like a year and a half or so. I imagine that they will want to sell a Cobra plane or G.I. Joe tank next. But they couldn't even release a G.I. Joe Classified Snowjob with a Snowmobile.

I remember seeing tons of vehicles in the aisles of Toys R Us back in the day. Not hoping that maybe a company will decide to crowd fund something.
 
It was fun to see the new store, but we didn’t spend much time inside. It was weird not to see ANY prices listed for stuff. I flipped some items over to look for tags and nothing.
 
Add the lack of price tags to the number of bad decisions at the modern Toys R Us.

Even though I would prefer a Aayla Secura 1/6 Hot Toys figure. I think I'm going to pick up the Black Series version. The figure is overpriced and I saw it once in Walmart and wasn't impressed with the likeness to the actress. But I'm hoping that Amazon will have a bit of a discount eventually. The figure also isn't as well designed as the new Target exclusive Avengers Black Widow. Which has multiple face sculpts and weapons yet is only a few dollars more than Aayla.

From what I've seen of these modern action figures, they really shouldn't be more than $20. At best in the $12 to $18 range.
 
JediMichael said:
Speaking of toys and such, just read this, which is scary. I know it never feels good to be laid off.

www.reuters.com

Hasbro to lay off 900 more employees amid weak toy sales

Hasbro said on Monday it would cut another 900 jobs globally, nearly a year after the toymaker announced it would reduce 15% of its workforce amid weaker sales.
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
Click to expand...

It’s tough being publicly owned. The largest shareholders are typically activist shareholder firms and/or large mutual funds. So pressure from these types of investors and the street often forces the company into making decisions based on owners who only care about profits. The same issue exists for companies held by private equity firms. Look at toys r’ us being held by that private equity consortium.
 
I have seen a small bunch of TRUs as part of larger stores.
The problem there is that I think the appeal of TRU was how large and complete those stores were.
 
I hope they do make a comeback but any sort of "it'll be just like the 1970's again" thinking will kill them hard and fast. I really miss the franchise and seeing those pictures above brought back a ton of those wonderful and valued childhood feels.
 

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.

Similar threads

DownInFlames
Toys and collectibles stores in Miami?
Replies
1
Views
478
DownInFlames
DownInFlames
Pepperbone
Next wave of Hot Toys figures
Replies
3
Views
704
JediMichael
JediMichael
Funky
Hot Toys Luke Skywalker Hoth blaster…seriously?!
Replies
6
Views
754
JOATRASH FX
JOATRASH FX
riley1
1960’s Captain Scarlet toys and Merch.
Replies
3
Views
1,095
division 6
division 6
blewis17
Do/ have you ever painted or modified your classic toys? (Kenner Millennium Falcon update)
Replies
4
Views
662
JediMichael
JediMichael
Back
Top