KB Toys files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection & To Close Stores

[JayC]

http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=1&itemid=13757

[RockthePlank]

Honestly, I haven't seen a KB Toys in years, and up until this summer when I ordered Absorbingman and Doc Samson from the Hulk FFF line, I forgot it even existed. I guess the exlusive mask-off Batman Beyond didn't save the company...

[ditko]

This is sad. Granted, I don't shop there much, but was glad to get Ares there last week. Maybe I can snag a discount on some figures there.

 

The economy is affecting everything now. I hope this ship can turn around

[BigBot84]

This was bound to happen sooner or later.

[Ares6009]

Actually, this has been coming for a while now. Over the past few years, they have been closing one store after another on CT, pretty much cutting down dramatically on the territory they were able to cover. I think they only have locations in the lower half of the state now, and they are pretty much consolidated to the most populaced (?) quadrant of that area.

 

Oddly, two months ago, when I lost my job, I saw they were looking for a store manager at the closest locaton to me. I applied, and haven't heard anything back - I kind of thought this was coming, so I didn't really have any high hopes. It's kind of sad, really, as they were always the main consistent toy store presence in any mall you went to. Now we only have the 'fly-by-night' temp stores who tend to have their own pricing strategies.

 

Truly a pity - they are now going the way of Child World and the like.

[Cthulhu5k]

I'm going to hit a few more in the Metro Detroit Area just to see what they have. I hope their fortunes change, but I see that this is the second time that they've declared which is a bad thing.

[MrBlisterfists]

it's not gonna happen.

 

they're done. Out of business. Finito.

[puma]

one of the my favorite jobs i ever had was working as an assistant manager at KB toys. i met one of my best friends there. i'm sad to see this chain go. hopefully tru will learn something from this and stick around.

[JayC]

Actually, this has been coming for a while now.

 

I agree, in the Washington DC metro area I know of only one store left, and there used to be one in every mall around here. The bad economy was the final nail in the coffin but honestly I'm surprised they lasted this long. I only went there for action figures so I can't really speak to how well they stocked other types of toys, but for action figures they were almost always the last ones to get something new in stock if they got it at all and then when they did get something it always cost more then anywhere else. The only reason I even would go into a KB is because it was in the mall next to my local comic book shop, but I would never go out of my way to go to a KB because you could almost always count they wouldn't have anything you were looking for. It is sad to see a toy chain go under but at the same time I really won't feel like i've lost much when they do close up.

[Dupree]

There is 5 of them near me....I'll hafta see what kinda sales they're having

[ARROW]

Truly a pity - they are now going the way of Child World and the like.

 

Yep, Kaybee is going to be with the other great toys stores in the..........uh.........

 

Just where DO toy stores go when they die?

[LarryKoopa]

The desire for unmasked Batman Beyond just got a little more intense.

[Ren]

Been going there since the early eighties, but to be honest the stores went downhill 15 years ago, way to much junk and dollar general junk in the stores overcrowded poorly lit and poor decision making by their purchasing dept.

[Dragon66]

After reading this news, I went and asked the manager at my local KB and she said closing would probably be mid January to Feb 1. That is the end of their fiscal year. This news saddens me because they would occasionally get a case or 2 that were older figures that I missed (i.e., X-Men Classics, The Batman animated.) and I could usually find something there. Now my options are TRU, Target, Walmart, and KMart. The closest Walmart and Kmart are always the last to receive anything if they get it at all. I just like having options.

[CaptainTriumph]

It is a sad day...I've found many things over the years to fill holes in my collection. This will just make it harder to find toys at a retail level...

[Darth Vehmic]

I haven't seen a KB Toys in almost 10 years, when they closed their only store at the local mall, so I don't really care if they go out of business or not. Actually, I'm suprised Toys R Us hasn't gone out of business yet, they never have anything in stock. Where the hell are the DCUC/DCSH 2-packs?!?

[gojira77]

How exactly do they get away with filing for bankruptcy twice in four years-- you or I couldn't do that! Maybe the rules are different for businesses... Kaybee was never my favorite place to shop, but you could always find the darnedest things there-- like Machine Wars, or old MOTU figures years after either line was cancelled. I hope people can still find their Cyborg and Batman Beyond variants in all of this turmoil.

[gojira77]

Double post-- sorry. I don't want to sound calloused, but I've got to say that it matters to me more when local, small businesses fail rather than specialty chains that have out-lived their niche. Terrible news for the employees though so close to the holidays, but I've been laid off right after Christmas myself-- it happens all the time in retail. They'll probably manage as well as I did.

[dhoonib]

My g/f and I went to KB yesterday to do some Christmas shopping for her niece and the cashier told us before it hit the news. Frankly I knew it would happen sooner or later. KB sold nothing but crap for years. I don't mean to sound harsh about this b/c I bought a lot of stuff there when I was a young kid but in the last ten years they have really been on the skids. I walked through the action figure aisle yesterday and was just amazed to see all the...well the junk. Lines no one has ever heard of and stuff no one wants to buy. Its basically just supply and demand, KB didn't supply anything any kid or collector wanted and so there was no demand for there stuff.

[Nightwing4984]

this is funny stuff me and my gf went to kb to see if they had anything, guess what they didn't its kaybee hahahaha must be why they are going out of business hahahahahaha. okay back to the story we went there and there were a couple employees "fighting" with each other they were saying things like "what are you gonna do fire me?" and "i'm gonna call corporate on you!" i couldn't help but laught at this fight cause they know whats going on and they seem to be in good enough spirits to screw around and have some fun with it.

[SuperChaos2585]

What (if anything) will replace them? There are tons of 'em near me (mostly in malls)...

[Cthulhu5k]

I'm guessing that some other toy liquidator will come along or a few online toy sources will come along. There are plenty of comic stores out there that would love to erase action figure competition while TRU takes care of all the rest. If anything, I'd love to see a chain of stores that sells nothing more than action figures take over. Something that caters to the collectible market that isn't a comic store.

[dhoonib]

I'm guessing that some other toy liquidator will come along or a few online toy sources will come along. There are plenty of comic stores out there that would love to erase action figure competition while TRU takes care of all the rest. If anything, I'd love to see a chain of stores that sells nothing more than action figures take over. Something that caters to the collectible market that isn't a comic store.

 

Okay that is considered a pipe dream sir, a chain store with decent supply for a decent price that sells nothing but action figures, yep just a pipe dream.

[Lady Jaye]

Well all the ones in Austin closed down years ago!! However while I was in Albany, I had 2 to choose from and that's where I got a lot of my Marvel Legends, including the chase figures!!! So while it won't affect me over here, it's sad to hear about them leaving!! One last remnant of the 80's is closing for good!!! I'm sure they were around before, but that's when I knew them!!!

 

I still have my exclusive Han and Luke in Stormtrooper disguise!!! One of my prized possessions!!!

[Dupree]

I stopped in a KB during my travels today and picked up a wrestling figure that was priced at 12.99 but I only paid 9.64. So you'll be paying that price if you pick up a dcuc fig. The store advertised 30-50% off but all the items except candy for the most part are only 30%. I'm sure over time this will change especially if they can't move the items