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TRU to Close 73 Strorefronts During 2006


Alyosha

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Eagle Eye Joe from JBL quote:

 

Chicago Tribune Business Page Link

 

And so the 50,000 pound gorilla known as Wal Mart begins to finish off the last major "toy store". With toy sales dropping across the board, "evergreen" lines dropping by the wayside and an industry scrambling to find a "Plan B" ... 2006 looks like it's going to be a pivotal point in the history of the toy industry.

 

What does this mean particularly for Joe?

 

Well as long as Wal Mart is #1, Joe will never reclaim the top spot.

 

 

 

My thoughts:

 

Well, I'll be honest....I too expected this a long time ago. When (as a retailer) you cannot match your competition in price (due to whatever constraints you may have) or in their quickness in getting new products on the shelf, you don't stay in business.

 

Add to that Wal-Marts willingness to use toys as a "loss-leader" and making the difference up in other places, and it's deadly (in a business atmosphere). I know that TRU SEEMED to sell thru most of their boys toys product this last holiday (two of my local stores were down to less than 3 total TF items on the shelf), but you've got to look at the big picture. Also, you have to factor in the proliferation of immigrants who are not willing to pay $8 for an action figure that their child is just going to trash in 24 hours, rather than spending $3 on a cheap imitation (Lanard) that will end up just the same. I know that is not a PC thing to say, but unfortunately it is very much the truth here in the South-Central US.

 

Like most people of my generation, I fondly remember going shopping at TRU back in the day, and what a treat it was, but in that same set of memories I think of how frustrating it has been as an adult collector trying to find any products there that I wanted/needed. I am going to miss them though, and hold out hopes that at least one of my local stores will remain open.

 

To tell you the truth, I really don't care for Wal-Mart, even thought they have the cheapest prices, they also have an extremely limited inventory and possibly the worst staffing overall of any chain of stores. Combine that with their shady business practices (not paying for their inventory for 60 to 90 days after receipt so that most items are already sold/paid for/out the door when thay have to pony up for the bill), and financial brutalization of any competitor and it does not endear them to me personally anymore.

 

I am holding out hope that Target and other like chains will be able to wangle a deal to bring our Joe back to the shelves when the time is appropriate, but honestly I don't think we'll see it except in limited cases during the Anniversary year. It's the old "familiarity breeds contempt" thing with the average consumers that seems to be the root of the problem, and the depressed economy and none of that is going to change anytime soon. @grumpy@

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I have heard of this happening before over the last few years because of the problems Toys R Us has been having but I never thought it would happen to the store near me. It has been a local landmark since before I was born and was always a great place to go even if I wasn't looking for anything. Well, today I walked into Toys R Us and saw the sign of going out of business sale. This is very upsetting.

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Say it ain't so. Are the Geoffrey stores in trouble too?

 

I can't say its a big shock though. Some of the TRU's I frequent were beginning to look like Kmarts.

 

The R'zones of most stores are ridiculous. Games are hardly alphetized. The old pull ticket method obviously doesn't sell as many titals but TRU has yet to grasp that concept.

 

Service at WM is bad but service at TRU is just as shody. Employees barely know anything about the product and its a toy store. There is little or no insentive to shop at TRU over WM for most consumers.

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Snip

 

Combine that with their shady business practices (not paying for their inventory for 60 to 90 days after receipt so that most items are already sold/paid for/out the door when thay have to pony up for the bill), and financial brutalization of any competitor and it does not endear them to me personally anymore.

 

 

Actually that is a common retail practice. 15/30/60/90 payment is done all over the board, not just Wal-Mart! There is nothing "shady" about it. TRU died because of bad managment, unwillingness to change early on and later, and bad decision making. And the bit about "financial burtalization", come on! Target, Sears, K-Mart, ect, would be the same way if they could!

 

Michael Richards

Bulletman Big B

All Hail DOB!!

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Sad news, I knew it was coming though. I hope some of 'em that I frequent will not be affected.

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I am an assistant manager for Wal-Mart. The "shady" practices are not shady at all. It is standard retail business. As for all this negative attitude towards Wal-Mart, it has simply done what all businesses set out to do, become the best that they can be. How was this done? By finding good deals and simply passing them onto the customer. Back when all the retailers opened up, (all in the same year) the standard for KMart and Targets was to add near 30% to what it cost them. What did Wal-Mart do? It simply added 2 to 5 % to the cost. Other businesses are screwing you with the prices they charged and are charging still. Wal-Mart simply does what it always has and adds a certain low percentage to what it costs us to get. This is a savings to the customer and I am always baffled at how an individual finds Wal-Mart wrong for doing so. Be mad at the other businesses for charging so much more over the actual cost of the product.

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my store is closing too

 

first my local KB

 

now my TRU

 

i am really screwed i dont hate wal-mart i just hate my wal-mart they suck so bad it is not even funny they did there reset and the shelves are still bare and i know they have product to put on them because i have snuck in the back and seen it but the people who work the toy dept. are to damn lazy to do there job

 

my only hope is that they are building a new super wal-mart and will be closing the old one but if the same lazy asses work there it wont be any better

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Sorry about that guys, the link is not working properly because you must register (free) and sign in to veiw. Here is the link to that page, where hopefully you'll be able to pick it up after registering. http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/sit...tered.intercept

 

Micheal Richards- Sorry you disagree, but to my mind it is shady. Do you think they'd sell me something on credit for 30/60/90 days? Most smaller venue stores, and chains do not have the weight to do this. As for the financial brutalization, when did Target, TRU, KB, Toy Circus, Circus World etc... deliberately target a particular chain to shut them down like Wal Mart has the last two seasons? I don't like it, and I remember a time when there was enough business spread around so that everyone got a taste.

 

Jordan- I'm sorry you don't like my oustpsoken stance about your parent company, but I don't like them, and I like them even less when I see guys like you toting the company line. And don't speak to me about percentages.....if a figure costs me $6.99 at TRU or other chains, it only costs $6.96 at Wal Mart so where are the BIG savings your mentioning? Did TRU or KB or any other toy store DEMAND that GI Joe had to be a 2 pack & had to have spring loaded action or else they wouldn't carry it? And then when sales slowed (as they always will) dropped it in favor of a brand they own part of and gets kickbacks on both ends of the deal (Lanard)? Wal Mart has used it's size and purchase capital in the exact same manner that the Oil Companies did, the Steel Companies did, ATT did, and the Railways did. I just hope I'm around long enough to see them take the exact same fall.

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Sorry about that guys, the link is not working properly because you must register (free) and sign in to veiw. Here is the link to that page, where hopefully you'll be able to pick it up after registering. http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/sit...tered.intercept

 

Micheal Richards- Sorry you disagree, but to my mind it is shady. Do you think they'd sell me something on credit for 30/60/90 days? Most smaller venue stores, and chains do not have the weight to do this. As for the financial brutalization, when did Target, TRU, KB, Toy Circus, Circus World etc... deliberately target a particular chain to shut them down like Wal Mart has the last two seasons? I don't like it, and I remember a time when there was enough business spread around so that everyone got a taste.

 

 

I understand what you are say, I am just trying to tell you all the stores, even smaller stores, though not as long as a term, do this. Our local Price Cutter, gets 10 to 30 day terms. They are small, maybe 100 or so stores. This is a very common practice in the retail industry. Well, Target, K-Mart, and et al, should be trying to shut out or at least dominate sales. THat is what they are in buisness for. I want to see my company be the best and if that means getting rid of the competitors, so be it. Also TRU is not really dead, it can survive and will. The new managment and help with the toy companies can keep it around. But they cannot make mistakes like they did in the past, like just ignoring Wal-Mart and Target when they started to catch up to them in sales. The management back then said it was no big deal and ignored them. Keeping their old supply lines, distrabution, and sales ideals. That and then bringing in the ex CEO of FAO Shcwartz after it's collapse did not help! His idea was "high end, upscale, exclusives" yeah, that worked for FAO so well!!! Wait for the books on the rise and fall of TRU, I know there has to be one written, from everything I have heard it would make on great buisness read!

 

Michael Richards

Bulletman Big B

All Hail DOB!!

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Frankly, i'm a little scared. Not for the toy industry, but that wal-mart just has too much power, they have no competition, and i do agree that their bussines practices are shady (mostly part timers, how many times on the news in 05 did we see illegal immigrants working at wal-mart?)

 

Mom and Pop stores are dead, and wal-mart has a monopoly.

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It may look bad, but let's keep perspective: there are 600-700 TRU stores. The stores they are closing seem to be poor performers. There are more than 5 in Illinois, and there is like one left in the Chicago area. Its cutting its losses which is what it should have done.

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[QOUTE]Also, you have to factor in the proliferation of immigrants who are not willing to pay $8 for an action figure that their child is just going to trash in 24 hours, rather than spending $3 on a cheap imitation (Lanard) that will end up just the same. I know that is not a PC thing to say, but unfortunately it is very much the truth here in the South-Central US.[/QOUTE]

 

 

Well I wouldn't place the blame solely on immigrants, there's a lot of apples pie moms out there doing the same thing. But I think the biggest reason is kids want electronic and outdoor activity games such as skateboaring, that's the main reason they don't want toys.

Edited by Ren
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I am an assistant manager for Wal-Mart. The "shady" practices are not shady at all. It is standard retail business. As for all this negative attitude towards Wal-Mart, it has simply done what all businesses set out to do, become the best that they can be. How was this done? By finding good deals and simply passing them onto the customer. Back when all the retailers opened up, (all in the same year) the standard for KMart and Targets was to add near 30% to what it cost them. What did Wal-Mart do? It simply added 2 to 5 % to the cost. Other businesses are screwing you with the prices they charged and are charging still. Wal-Mart simply does what it always has and adds a certain low percentage to what it costs us to get. This is a savings to the customer and I am always baffled at how an individual finds Wal-Mart wrong for doing so. Be mad at the other businesses for charging so much more over the actual cost of the product.

 

are you really trying to defend wal-mart........clearly an intelligent response would be met with deaf ears :wacko:

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You all do realize that just because Wal-Mart is soo big does not mean that its the devil or anything. K-mart had over 100 stores to every 1 Wal-Mart store during the first ten years of Wal-Mart. The reason K-Mart failed was because they ignored a population ("rural" communities) Wal-Mart is a mom and pop store that was managed so great that it has become the size it is today. Did Sam Walton , the founder of Wal-Mart tuck tail and run when he looked at all the K-Mart stores he was competing with? No he managed and cut expenses so he could compete. Don't give me the little poor mom and pop store routine, because the founder of Wal-Mart had more competition than other retailers do that face Wal-Mart now. As for Wal-Marts main competitor, since no one here seems educated on the facts of retail, they seem to only share a hate of Wal-Mart, it is WalGreens. 7 Walgreens are built to every 1 Wal-Mart. Because they are smaller they are being able to draw shoppers and compete with Wal-Mart so well that they may very well take the lead some day in the retail business. Yes Walgreens, not everyones life evolves around the best store to get toys. I do agree that help sucks at some Wal-Marts but if you came to my Wal-Mart I can assure you that my associates do provide that extra effort in the toy department. All the new toy aisles have to be set by this Wednesday too. So if they are empty then check them out on that day. And you can always simply ask for an manager to help you. Our main focus is on you, the customer. Ask them for certain figures and they will find out if it is in stock. I just went and got some of the new DC Superhero figures for a customer today and I also ordered and extra 3 cases of Sigma Six so I can put them out on an end cap and kill the nasty Corps figures that sell so darn well.

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:rolleyes:

 

There's already another topic about this in the Community Center forum, and I've posted my thoughts on the whole "Walmart is to blame" BS!

 

http://adctalk.com/index.php?showtopic=2006645

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Frankly, i'm a little scared. Not for the toy industry, but that wal-mart just has too much power, they have no competition, and i do agree that their bussines practices are shady (mostly part timers, how many times on the news in 05 did we see illegal immigrants working at wal-mart?)

 

Mom and Pop stores are dead, and wal-mart has a monopoly.

 

I'd care less if it weren't for the fact that it's nearly impossible to find anthing good at Walmart.

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You all do realize that just because Wal-Mart is soo big does not mean that its the devil or anything. K-mart had over 100 stores to every 1 Wal-Mart store during the first ten years of Wal-Mart. The reason K-Mart failed was because they ignored a population ("rural" communities) Wal-Mart is a mom and pop store that was managed so great that it has become the size it is today. Did Sam Walton , the founder of Wal-Mart tuck tail and run when he looked at all the K-Mart stores he was competing with? No he managed and cut expenses so he could compete. Don't give me the little poor mom and pop store routine, because the founder of Wal-Mart had more competition than other retailers do that face Wal-Mart now. As for Wal-Marts main competitor, since no one here seems educated on the facts of retail, they seem to only share a hate of Wal-Mart, it is WalGreens. 7 Walgreens are built to every 1 Wal-Mart. Because they are smaller they are being able to draw shoppers and compete with Wal-Mart so well that they may very well take the lead some day in the retail business. Yes Walgreens, not everyones life evolves around the best store to get toys. I do agree that help sucks at some Wal-Marts but if you came to my Wal-Mart I can assure you that my associates do provide that extra effort in the toy department. All the new toy aisles have to be set by this Wednesday too. So if they are empty then check them out on that day. And you can always simply ask for an manager to help you. Our main focus is on you, the customer. Ask them for certain figures and they will find out if it is in stock. I just went and got some of the new DC Superhero figures for a customer today and I also ordered and extra 3 cases of Sigma Six so I can put them out on an end cap and kill the nasty Corps figures that sell so darn well.

 

 

im glade you help your custamers, but as i said earlier the people at my store are lazy and could care less about me finding the action figure i want. you are obvisly a collector and know what sales and what people want and try to help them. if i had some one like you that worked at my wal-mart i would love it, but it is rare to find someone at any store that knows or cares about toys(manegeres included). as i said i dont hate wal-mart just mine with all the lazy workers that just dont care about someone buying a $8.00 action figure.

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