Razgriz-Specter
Member
They were for a while, not sure lately though.
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Toys R Us Is Planning Bankruptcy Filing as Soon as Today
- Thread starter IronRinn
- Start date
They were for a while, not sure lately though.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Their glory years are far behind them now. You can't go into one today and recreate the magic of their 80's and 90's. It simply doesn't exist anymore.
I grew up around the Toys R Us that Micheal Jackson would frequent, about 30 minutes from Neverland Ranch, and I remember as kid a rumor going around the school yard that if you happened to be at TRU when MJ was there he would buy you whatever you wanted. So I was always on the look out for him when I was there lol.
Paracelsus
Member
Unknown Soldier
Member
Well, there's a reason why firms like KKR are infamous for things like the RJR Nabisco buyout chronicled in Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco. They used to call KKR and Bain Capital and their like 'corporate raiders' but now the popular term is 'vulture investors'. These firms specialize in highly leveraged buyouts of struggling companies, with the stated goal of turning them around but the actual result of stripping them for assets to sell before taking them into bankruptcy. The raiders make a ton of money, the company goes kaput, and shareholders and lenders/creditors foot the bill.
Bain Capital is of course most famous these days for being co-founded by Mitt Romney, who would go on to lose his Presidential bid against a re-election of Barack Obama in 2012.
Jacknapes
Member
It's a shame to possibly see it go. As a child, i have fond memories of going in and playing the demo pods for the PlayStation, N64 and GameCube. Usually around the time the parents would go shopping for my sister's toys for Christmas or something. I did pick up a copy of Banjo Kazooie from a Toys R Us, had to go to a different window to collect it once i paid for it at the check-out.
They are certainly a shell of themselves these days, there was a pop-up store in Cardiff which i had to pop into to pick up something. All it was were shelves and shelves of sale items. And staff didn't seem to be helpful at all.
They are certainly a shell of themselves these days, there was a pop-up store in Cardiff which i had to pop into to pick up something. All it was were shelves and shelves of sale items. And staff didn't seem to be helpful at all.
AndrewDean84xX
Banned
My 8 year old daughter doesn't play with toys. She's either playing games, messing around on her chromebook or playing a sport or riding a bike outside.
We keep buying the cool hot toys and they just collect dust. I'm telling my family to buy savings bonds this Christmas for her and we'll buy her some switch games and clothes and call it a day.
We keep buying the cool hot toys and they just collect dust. I'm telling my family to buy savings bonds this Christmas for her and we'll buy her some switch games and clothes and call it a day.
Alex_Mexico
Member
I couldn't tell you how many SNES, GB, and to a lesser extent N64 games I bought at Toys R Us in the 90s. Some of the best games I've ever played for those consoles I bought with my own money in one of those stores: Donkey Kong Country 2, TMNT Tournament Fighters, Pokémon Blue & Red, Super Mario 64, Super Mario RPG, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, many strategy guides, etc. I mean shit the first time I saw Ocarina of Time in motion and got to play it was at a demo kiosk in a TRU!
I'm partial to the time where you'd pull a yellow slip with the price of the game, pay for it and then exit through a different door that took you to the magical place where all the videogames were stored.
But alas, it wasn't meant to last. TRU at some point was the #2 retailer for videogames in the US. I don't think they are relevant anymore.
I'm partial to the time where you'd pull a yellow slip with the price of the game, pay for it and then exit through a different door that took you to the magical place where all the videogames were stored.
But alas, it wasn't meant to last. TRU at some point was the #2 retailer for videogames in the US. I don't think they are relevant anymore.
Alex_Mexico
Member
My biggest TRU regret ever was when sometime in the late 90s I walked past an aisle stacked with brand new Sega Saturns being sold for $20 and not buying one. What an idiot! I remember vividly walking past them and me being the colossal Nintendo fanboy that I was I scoffed and thought "gee, Sega and their Saturn must've sucked so bad". This was during that period prior to the DC where the Saturn was all but dead with no shelf space or marketing being given to it.
EASTC0AST_GH05T
Member
A Casino =)
Charles Brandon
Member
There's millions.
Updated the OP with this info.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
For me 80s Toys R Us was the golden age. The first-generation video game aisles were great, with so many different experimental consoles and devices. Then the NES came out in the US and TRU became a house of worship for 80s gamer kids. It was also prime time for action figure lines, like Star Wars and GI Joe. TRU was stuffed with all the highest end playsets you didn't see in most stores.
And by 1985 TRU had gotten in on the trend of importing Japanese toys created like Bandai's Godaikin line of die-cast super robot toys. It was surreal because you could go into some locations and find an entire overflow aisle full of imported toys, from Fang of the Sun Dougram zinc-cast mecha to Macross model kits.
And by 1985 TRU had gotten in on the trend of importing Japanese toys created like Bandai's Godaikin line of die-cast super robot toys. It was surreal because you could go into some locations and find an entire overflow aisle full of imported toys, from Fang of the Sun Dougram zinc-cast mecha to Macross model kits.
CadetMahoney
Member
First they came for MadCatz, but I wasn't a SF5 fan. . .
There's millions of debris all under one roof..
There's millions of debris all under one roof..
SiegfriedFM
Member
Let me guess. You were a kid then and you're not a kid anymore. Last time I checked, my TRU had video games, Lego, Hot Wheels, Super Soakers and RC cars. No worthwhile Transformers though because fuck Hasbro Nordic. But still.
I still got the kid in me but the TRU now is a barren husk of its former self. I stopped in one 7-8 years ago and it was depressing as hell.
Quick, get a job at Trump Towers, I'm noticing a trend here.
arts&crafts
Member
But when I was a kid my parents didnt buy me an iPad and iPhone X they bought me a (preowned) super soaker!
The last time I went into one was like four years ago, but it's still pretty big (physically) with tons of toys. The biggest difference from the 90s is that a lot less people were there. For reference though I live in one of the big tech cities, and I don't know if that affects things (in a topic about malls dying someone from SoCal said that they seemed to be doing fine there, even if they were less active than before).
teruterubozu
Member
Yup, Bain Capital is a death sentence. They did the same thing to Guitar Center, which analysts say is barely squeaking by with $1.5 billion in debt.
That sucks if true. So while there is the threat of online retailers, etc they didn't really cause this problem themselves. Maybe this is why those lenders in the second update are willing to help out.
Even the SMELL of the place was magical.
I remember as a kid who loved Hot Wheels I loved going into Toys R Us, because they had a whole aisle full of them and an endcap at the end of the aisle with more, and sometimes a bin somewhere else in the store overfilled with the cars. Literally thousands of little cars in stock. And I would sit there and look through every single one.
Robdraggoo
Member
What do you mean mostly kidding
sixteen-bit
Member
I remember cheap game clearances there. Printing lists off gamefaqs or cheapassgamer and coming home with a bunch of cheap $5-$10 games.
The Dreamcast liquidation was legendary.
The Dreamcast liquidation was legendary.
For those who are a bit more interested, TRU filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection doesn't mean they are going out of business. It just means they are restructuring their debts and renegotiating with their debtors to try and harmonize the debt in order to get back into business.
This usually consists of a number of steps, but the two main important ones are the debtors taking haircuts on their debt in order to manage interest and the debts themselves generally as well as finding what's called a "DIP Lender" which stands for debtor in possession. TRU will have a number of secured and unsecured creditors and all of them will take a further back seat to the DIP lender who, for the price of a huge cash infusion designed to get the company back up and running, will take a super priority over those creditors.
It's actually very interesting on the legal side and the turn around times tend to be very fast.
This usually consists of a number of steps, but the two main important ones are the debtors taking haircuts on their debt in order to manage interest and the debts themselves generally as well as finding what's called a "DIP Lender" which stands for debtor in possession. TRU will have a number of secured and unsecured creditors and all of them will take a further back seat to the DIP lender who, for the price of a huge cash infusion designed to get the company back up and running, will take a super priority over those creditors.
It's actually very interesting on the legal side and the turn around times tend to be very fast.
Man times change. I remember the local Toys R' Us during the chains' height one Christmas season. Numerous consoles on display behind glass, with demo screens running (Master System, NES, Turbo, even a Neo Geo, etc). Clean, fully-stocked everything. Busier than hell, kids and parents everywhere.
The store is still there, but it's like an old warehouse now. As unorganized as a ten year old's bedroom, with about as much thought dedicated to layout. And it has been that way for a long time. They got careless and became a place that was off putting to shoppers years and years before Amazon came along to deliver the coup de grace.
The store is still there, but it's like an old warehouse now. As unorganized as a ten year old's bedroom, with about as much thought dedicated to layout. And it has been that way for a long time. They got careless and became a place that was off putting to shoppers years and years before Amazon came along to deliver the coup de grace.
Walter White Walker
Member
I take my kids to the local Toys R Us. It's fine - clean and organized. It'll be lame if and when they shut down.
always crazy bacon
Banned
That's the TRU experience for many people, well maintained store no customers. The ones that are there are not buying anything.
Diablohead
Member
Where I live there is a big toys R us store that's been there since I can remember, my parents bought me a megadrive with sonic 1 & 2 back in 1992 from there so it's a rather old store now, but huge.
In the last 5 years I have been there maybe three times and each time the store is nearly dead and not busy like the old days, we spend our £20 and go.
The kid in me will miss it when it's gone.
In the last 5 years I have been there maybe three times and each time the store is nearly dead and not busy like the old days, we spend our £20 and go.
The kid in me will miss it when it's gone.
MadCatz killed themselves with a single dumbass business decision.
I too remember this, that Dreamcast sale was crazy(taxi).
My mother works for TRU and has for about 15 years, she only works a few days a week as is so I doubt she'll be affected at all.
dolabla
Member
My local Toys R Us is really clean and is pretty stocked when I go in there. They just remodeled it a few years ago and added a Babies R Us. They are super busy during Christmas time. I don't think it will be one of the stores to close if/when they decide to close some stores.
I remember when they had the consoles in the glass cases and when you had to take the paper slip to get your game. Those were good times.
I hope they don't completely close all stores. I would be sad to see them go. Between them and Kmart, that would be two places from my childhood where I bought many games/consoles that would be gone.
I don't see Kmart/Sears being around too much longer. Sad to see what's happened to them.
I remember when they had the consoles in the glass cases and when you had to take the paper slip to get your game. Those were good times.
I hope they don't completely close all stores. I would be sad to see them go. Between them and Kmart, that would be two places from my childhood where I bought many games/consoles that would be gone.
I don't see Kmart/Sears being around too much longer. Sad to see what's happened to them.
Evening Musuko
Black Korea
That's usually the case for the stand alone TRUs. The one I worked at years ago also doubled as a Babies R Us and we were pretty busy year round. Sometimes, we'd get people from other TRUs who were looking for more hours to work for us.
Fast Forward
Member
True, but this is not exactly a sign of a healthy business, either.
NipplesAndToes23
Member
Lay off the drugs. That game is ass! No hit detection, poor level and game design, sluggish controls, the whole nine.I have amazing memories of Toys R Us. It reminds me of a better time when I would buy games based on the cover or properties I liked. I remember seeing that there was a Scooby Doo game and knowing I wanted it more than anything. My favorite show of all time getting had a game? How could I not get it? Game ended up being awesome too which is always a bonus.
I also have nostalgia for my time working about Babies R Us. There was a lot of shitty shit with management but there was still something I loved about just being in that store.