Say goodbye to Toys R' Us

So, it appears that Toys R' Us will be totally going out of business. All remaining retail locations will close within the next few days.

Can't say I'm surprised. They were overpriced on everything, and seemed to want to specialize on the high-end collector's market toys. You know, the "action figures" with 98 points of articulation that cost $29.99.

Or the Lego sets, admittedly cool, but for the best ones you better be prepared to shell out $150.

Sorry, but most people just can't afford those prices. Every last thing in the store could be had for less on Amazon or some other online retailer.

I had heard that they were cheaping out on the help with the stores being understaffed with underpaid and overworked employees. Looks like all the ingredients were there for a nice dish of Chapter 7 stew.

Sad. I went there for Star Wars toys when I was a kid.

It's kinda surprising how willing people have been to abandon brick & mortar stores over the past 10 years. I'm surprised Best Buy is still around. Many of their competitors have bit the dust, including Circuit City, CompUSA, and Ultimate Electronics.

I keep thinking that clothing retailers should be different - you can't tell if something fits you or will look good on you just by looking at a picture on the internet. But Sears and J.C. Penny's are hanging on by a thread, and Sears will probably be gone within a year.

Of course, there will always be idiots who run out to Dick's Sporting goods to throw down $49.99 for a flimsy t-shirt just because it has the Nike swoosh or the Under Armour logo on it.

* Peter Griffin crying and singing *
I don't wanna grow up
I'm a Toys R' Us kid
They got a million toys at Toys R' Us that I can play with
I don't wanna grow up, cause maybe if I did
I couldn't be a Toys R Us kid

* Peter Griffin singing and crying *

Going to Toys R Us used to be a blast as a kid. I’m sad to see them go.

I remember acquiring a copy of Funeral For a Friend from Toys R' Us. Back then it was easy to acquire things. I also remember every Christmas my grandma would let me pick out one toy. I would complain because if I picked out one G.I Joe I wouldn't have a Cobra guy to fight them.

They sold Elton John at Toys R Us?
Did it come with Love Lies Bleeding?

I remember being a kid and begging my mom in Toys R' Us for an advance on my allowance to buy:



The first version. Still have it to this day.

I'm going to miss Toys R' Us. Same as Playworld.

Well aware of the album, you should've been aware of the comic.

Like Hostess they got taken down by corporate raiders who loaded them up with debt then left them to die after stripping their assets. I know some claim that is creative destruction but really it is just destruction.

I played that too though mine was bought at Target.

Ah, that’s too bad. I guess kids are more into smartphones and tablets these days.

And you can get probably get stuff cheaper at Amazon anyway.

But maybe I can run to the local store before it closes and see if anything is on clearance.

I remember going there as a kid to pick up Nintendo games and LEGO sets.

I guess GameStop has video games covered (although they may go out of business soon too with digital sales picking up) these days and there are actual LEGO stores at the mall and there’s even a LEGO theme park.

I don’t have kids but I do feel kind of sad that kids nowadays won’t have that immediate sense of joy from discovering a cool toy or stuffed animal at the store and bugging their parents for it.

Nowadays they’ll just scroll thru social media or look at cool stuff on YouTube.

Rough deal - looks like Chuck E Cheese is the only venue now for you to harass children

Every time I go into Best Buy they look surprisingly busy. Based on what I've looked at, anyway, their prices are roughly on par with stuff you'd find online.

LEGOs are super expensive these days. I remember my friends just having a mix of LEGO sit was never one particular thing. We would just build whatever.

I broke as shit growing up and the only store was ten miles away, which was 9 miles further than my mom would drive for anything that wasn't work or groceries.

But Dinner is right, the excess borrowing did them in more than the pricing or even the fact that kids prefer electronics.

I ordered a few tops and a bathrobe for KJ online for Christmas, and it worked out . . . but I made sure to read the reviews on each page and steer away from anything that didn't seem to be fitting people well.

And I didn't buy her jeans or slacks or anything like that. Jeans for her and me both are something we have to try on. Everyone seems to make theirs a little different, and there are all the different styles of fit. And no way would I buy shoes online.

As for Geoffrey . . .

The two things I remember buying there are my bicycle helmet and my color Game Boy . They were down to only one or two colors by the time we got there, so my brother and I each got one in teal and were content.

RIP Toys R US

That's what happened to KB Toys and they actually seemed to be doing well. But I think it was Mitt Romney's company bought them and ran it into the ground to make a profit. I like capitalism because I love owning stuff, but that's just greed.

Last I heard, they were still keeping overseas stores open (ie, in China).

I have the privilege of shopping for spectacular knock-offs like this:

Actually, Circuit City is coming back! And those flimsy t-shirts suck. The material is awful. Give me a 100% cotton tee for sports or anything else. It's the fabric of our lives.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...tores-33000-jobs-at-risk-source-idUSKCN1GQ36S

The article argues that modern kids play with electronic gadgets rather than traditional physical toys. Toys R' Us sells video games and electronic gadgets, but their prices have always been sky high. You were never going to find any bargains there.

Maybe kids do prefer smart phones over GI Joe action figures these days. But the fact that a single GI Joe or Star Wars action figure costs you $10-15 is what has killed the market. Lego sets are cool, but not $150 cool.

It seems as though Amazon really has killed off brick and mortar stores.

Yep, no more Toys "R" Us.

Apart from Amazon, they'd been borrowing way more than they could pay back. They've been up a creek for at least a decade. Oh well

Bankruptcy judge approves $14M Toys R Us executive bonus payout

Of course they did