Toys R Us Goes Out Of Business.... Just Kidding

[JayC]

According to a report by the WSJ it looks like Toys R' Us' controlling lenders have had a change of heart and decided to revive the Toys ‘R’ Us and Babies ‘R’ Us names in the United States with retail stores. Apparently at the last minute someone decided the brand was just to valuable to kill off.

There aren't a lot of specific details at this time, but if you thought you were going to have to grow up after all 735 stores in the US closed a few months ago, I guess you were wrong. Stay-tuned for more details on this as they become available.

[meerkatfigures]

Glad to hear this! Most of the Toys R' Us' in Asia are still up and running thanks to some new investors. My local TRU is surprisingly backed up by Hamley's so we're solid in getting more Marvel Legends (if they ever arrive) in the future. Hoping this'll be the case for the US as well! 

[Hogun]

We still have TRUs here in Canada.

[GojiBill]

Really hope this gains traction, the closing of Toys r Us lost me a local NECA distributer and broke my kids’ hearts. Sad that kids today may grow up without having the opportunity to walk through a large toy store for their birthday or during the holiday season.

[FASVB]

It's always good for consumers to have options. If they are smart about this they will keep it small, well located and invest in the online branch, making it more integrated to the physical stores. 

[Hordak Rules]

I feel better for the Canadian TRUs. I'm sure there are people worried here. 

[JKenbok]

Phew!  Fingers crossed this pans out and we get them back in the US. I felt so bad for my kids when they closed. That’s no way to grow up!

[MIKE]

I hope it's true. I have been going to TOYRUS. as far back as I can remember. I'm 51. I Have taken my kids and grandkids there. I bought all there first bicycles and many birthday and Christmas presents there. It was very sad they closed. Hope they come back.

[anthonywayne]

Great...think they'll rehire and reinstate the seniority of all those poor people who spent 25 - 30 years working for TRU and give them some kind of damn pension benefits?

 

No...?

[nighthawk]

Almost wonder if this was their idea all along to wipe out the debt and operate again in a leaner way and to get everyone down to minimum wages.

[MIKE]

I was so wraped up in missing toysrus I dint think about all the employees that lost there jobs. They really should hire them back and give them all the pay and benefits they had when they were let go. If they dont I will have to rethink shopping there if they reopen. Can't support a company that would do that to so many people. Hope toysrus does the right thing.

[Atlantis]

Can only speak for my experiences here in Alaska, but frankly could care less if they're out of business. They never, I mean never, had any of the items I wanted in stock, the employees had NO freaking clue on the different lines, and by the time they eventually did get a series in, it was overpriced and understocked. Toys that were TRU exclusive? Nope, employees didn't know anything about it. I could go to a Target or Fred Meyers department store and get Marvel Legends, Marvel Universe, DCU etc. but going to TRU was a waste of time. It just baffled me that a dept store that sells clothes, sporting goods, electronics, groceries AND toys, would have a better selection than a store that JUST sells toys. Frankly I'm surprised they stayed in business here as long as they did.

[fleskz]

Even their "going out of business" sales were more expensive than amazon. Other than nostalgia, i can't say I'm excited about this

[Supersmashfox64]

I never grew up going to Toys R Us, and even to this day I've never bought anything from Toys R Us, but I understand and recognize it as an undeniable staple of a lot of people's childhoods. So I'm really glad to hear that there's a possibility for the franchise to come back.

[americamgl]

As much as I loved going to Toys R Us I actually didn't buy as much from them. It was hard to find anything good in my area and they never had sales. Someone mentioned above that their going out of business sales was still at times more expensive than other places.

I think Toys R Us should focus in improving their online page and have the stores like the Toys R Us Express which were smaller. I believe most of us shop online most of the time anyways.

I am just glad we can have some cheaper NECA toys. Cant afford buying ultimate figures at almost $30.0. No way!!!

[GojiBill]

Toys r Us used to be the go to place for everything toy related, but they lost their way when they attempted to compete with Target and Walmart by diversifying their product in the early 2000s. Had they focused on their original model at selling toys at big box store prices, I think they would’ve had a better chance at surviving the current retail climate.

Multiple things contributed to the fall of Toys r Us but most of, if not all, stemmed from poor leadership and bad business choices. Amazon and other online shopping helped bury them, but all their wounds were self inflicted IMO.

[Falls22]

Hey if they can comeback it’d be great! But I don’t have high hopes. I love ToysRUs! However, there’s gotta be some changes. Get relevant stuff in! At my local store (which is like an hour and a half away) was a mix of stuff! Sometimes you’d find a gem or two other times it was a complete wasteland. That was my main problem with ToysRUs. 

You are a freaking toy store ToysRUs! I expect you to have better stuff than Wal-Marts toy section! I should be able to go to toysrus and find the most recent wave of legends easier than I would at Walmart. Or any other non major toy retailer. So, until toysrus can fix that and their many other problems I don’t see this working or even happening. 

[InvisibleStormtrooper]

I hope that, if this happens, that they don't immediately start getting exclusives again because there are a bunch of them I never was able to get because they couldn't ship them to me online and there were no stores in a 100 miles for me to pick them up at. So very frustrating to have missed out on figures I'd been excited to get.

(I mean, I get why they'd want exclusives to try to generate some business but can they please just have enough to sell them to the people who want them? )

[Atlantis]

In addition to their poor performance and higher prices (compared to other outlets and online avenues), I'm taking this comeback story with a grain of salt, because I don't think many companies will have a lot of confidence in TRU.  If I'm Hasbro or Mattel etc. why would I offer a line to a store that's already proven to be a poor performer? I don't know how it worked out, but my guess is the figures that were exclusive to TRU at the time they folded, had to find other distributors, and I doubt that was a walk in the park. From some of the comments here it looks like their lack of product wasn't just shown in Alaska. And I echo what others have said, their going out of business sale prices weren't much better than the day to day prices. Bottom line, consumers likely will not have any confidence in them. Besides, even if they were going to come back, wheres the evidence they learned anything from their failures?  Maybe if they'd been out of business for a few years, and used that time to improve, a comeback would be a great thing. I haven't missed TRU one bit...it looks like people are in love with the IDEA of a great toystore….but TRU simply wasn't it.

[versus_mode]

Too poor to be a Toys R' Us Kid growing up, but I've shopped online with them a handful of times in my adult life.
Glad to have them back as an option for my collecting needs, though I was never truly devastated by the loss.