The Energon Pub

[o.supreme]

Well... there was this one time I bought the MP Casettes from Lena at 12$ for the pair and shipping was about the same. I didnt mind then

that's why brought up my example with the Kreon's. Fairly small items, with equivalent shipping is fine. But $70 to ship a 150 Unite Warriors set =$220 -NO THANK YOU.

[Slashercon]

I got severely worried about my Toy's R Us in Monroeville when I saw the address...only to be relieved that it's just a Babies R US. Phew.

[zko]

I feel bad for the two closing in Alabama, because they are the best 2 within my local area, the 3rd one that is local is kind of sorry and is a babies r' us/tru hybrid in hoover, alabama, another one that is just a babies r us is around, wish they would have closed those 2 instead... the best one in the state is Hunstville, AL followed closely by the Summit and Tuscaloosa comes in a not so distant 3rd... too bad they couldnt close the useless baby r u parts instead

guess I will have to check out and see if they have any exclusives soon if I get the chance before they close.

[Madeus Prime]

Yeah, I don't know all of these, but my local BRU is on here. Not gonna be missed, barely anyone in the parking lot these days.

[WreckerJack]

Looks like only one of the 3 TRU's near me will be closing. I am gonna miss it because I went to yugioh tourneys there as a kid. It's a huge bummer. Like I said the other two will still be there, not that I have been there in years anyway.

[kurthy]

The Illinois list makes some sense, but Moline, illinois should be on there. The store looks like it was transported here directly from 1985...no updates. The Bloomington, Illinois store should also be on the list. I don't understand the Schaumburg closure...the store was recently renovated from complete craphole to almost decent. I'm sure the rent is just too much in such a swanky Chicago suburb.

I think they are looking more at coverage areas than anything else. That would help explain Moline's and Bloomington's survival versus Schaumburg, Highland Park and Vernon Hills.

I don't think coverage is an issue there, as Davenport, IA is staying open, too (right across the river). I'm always able to find stuff there in stock the quickest, but it also looks transported here from the '80s.

Davenport remaining open was one of the reason's I thought Moline would likely close and surprised it is not on the list. Both locations have been helped by Kmart closures too. TRU Moline has Target to contend with, but Davenport location is holding its own in that very weird/horrible traffic/corner lot. I do miss the Davenport Kmart. I missed out on Lego deals at both and very disappointed.

I'm from Iowa City, so the the absolutely horrendous traffic corner doesn't bother me as long as I can find cool stuff there like the boxsets. I need more reasons to go there because the stock is always better than the one in Cedar Rapids.

[joevill]

Glad none near me made the list.

[Aimless Misfire]

The only TRU near me isn't closing but they really need to fix their stocking practices. They only restock Transformers like once every 6 months.

And every store needs to do better online. They all suck balls especially Hasbrotoyshop.

[WreckerJack]

Went to my local TRU for the first time in years. While the WWE section was overflowing, the Transformers section was full of crickets. Bunch of those overpriced legion figures (they are overpriced at every store I go to) a whole convoy of Armor Turbo Changer Hounds, AKA the stuff nobody buys. There were at least 30+ of the legion figs from TLK and RiD.

I'd like to note that they didn't have any thing from Titans Return, but they did have ONE Dreadwind from PotP so I think they were getting cleaned out on the good stuff. My guess is that they are just ordering the wrong stuff to hit their mark or the good stuff gets cleaned out too fast so they are stuck with shelf-warm city.

[WreckerJack]

We have more news about ToysRus's financial issues. This comes to us from fellow Seibertronian, mordhelm. USA Today reports that ToysRus may be planning to shut down 200 more stores. Considering roughly 170 US stores are holding going out of business sales, your store may be added to the list to be closed if they were not already on it. You can check that list here if you have not already seen it. In the meantime be sure to make plans for a last visit to ToysRus just in case. The article at least gives us a sliver of hope considering bankrupcy experts are predicting that the company will shrink down to fewer than 200 stores to remain viable.

The 200 store closings would be in addition to the approximately 170 U.S. stores where Toys R Us currently is holding going out of business sales. If the retailer goes ahead with those closings, it would be reducing its store fleet by close to 50%, from approximately 880 last year to roughly 400 stores.

[CJPrime931]

Oh no...

[LevelRage]

Still glad I don't work at toys r us anymore. Sure I got discounts but this whole going out of business deal would've probably sent some panic to my managers, as well as leading up to having to find a new job.

[WreckerJack]

I thought of working at TRU but my capacity for screaming children is 5 minutes or less so I know I am not a good fit.

[Rodimus Knight]

If they do close more, I hope they get the list out quickly.
I'm guessing we wont be seeing to many TRU exclusive transformers at this point though.

[william-james88]

If they do close more, I hope they get the list out quickly.
I'm guessing we wont be seeing to many TRU exclusive transformers at this point though.

Only 1 in 2018.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

Right, time to recheck my local one... Last time they had a sign saying they'll continue to be open and be of service, apparently aware of the potential panic the overall news is bringing.

[Flashwave]

This is in part educated speculation, but the original 180 store list shows the TRU in Greenwood, IN as closing. I was just there two weeks ago and the TOYsRUS I does NOT have the Store Closing Signs up, but the BABIESrus next to them DOES. So with that in hand I firmly believe that at the very least the original list is populated with both TRU and BRU stores. And this one may be too.

[fenrir72]

"
Toys “R” Us Inc. is making preparations for a liquidation of its bankrupt U.S. operations after so far failing to find a buyer or reach a debt restructuring deal with lenders, according to people familiar with the matter."


The news sent shares of the biggest toymakers tumbling in late trading. Mattel Inc. fell as much as 6.1 percent, while Hasbro Inc. declined 3 percent.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... operations

[shajaki]

Will, is the article accurate that TRU Canada entered bankruptcy last September? I don't recall hearing that!

[william-james88]

You read that right. This Monday, Toys R Us is expected to appear at a bankruptcy hearing and shutting down all its stores and liquidating its entire US operations is one of the options they are considering. There are other options, of course, but this is the option certain lenders are pushing for, after a weak holiday performance. They had already planned to close 20% of their US stores (184 to be precise).

This comes to us from the Wall Street Journal which refers to unspecified people in the know.

Just to be very clear, this does not mean that all stores are closing Monday, it just means that the decision to close all stores in the US could be made official Monday. Liquidation would happen soon after. Also, this is just for US operations.

Here are the key parts from the Wall Street Journal Article:

- Troubled toy chain Toys R Us Inc. is preparing to liquidate all of its U.S. stores and abandon efforts to restructure through the bankruptcy process, people familiar with the matter said, after a weak holiday season torpedoed plans to reorganize.

- An announcement could come as soon as Monday when the parties are expected to appear at a bankruptcy hearing in Richmond, VA., the people said. How much Toys R Us decides to liquidate will depend on the size of the liquidator bids it receives, the people said.

- The plan to shut down the stores and liquidate the U.S. operations is one of several scenarios in play, one of the people said, and while some lenders are pushing that route, others want to find other options for Toys R Us to continue operations.

[william-james88]

Will, is the article accurate that TRU Canada entered bankruptcy last September? I don't recall hearing that!

Yes, it did. But it did so seperately. It was indeed protection from the US going bankrupt since TRU Canada has been lending its surplus money to the US branches.

The US was sinking Canada down with them (which they can, they own it) so when they declared bankruptcy, Canada had to decalre bankruptcy too.

However, I do not think that the US liquidating means canada will have to be liquidated as well. Regardless, TRU Canada is ridiculously profitable due to the meager competition so what i beleive is someone would simply buy the Canadian operations if things got really dire.

[BombshellDaBug]

Holy S*** this is troubling as all hell. Granted the decision isn't final yet, but it's still really concerning for TRU. One concern of mine is that TRU might be the only option for TF collecting for certain people. I also can't help but wonder what's going to happen to certain exclusives i.e. Studio Series Thundercracker. Are we going to get an alternative outlet for purchasing it, or are we just not going to see it as a result of this?

[william-james88]

Holy S*** this is troubling as all hell. Granted the decision isn't final yet, but it's still really concerning for TRU. One concern of mine is that TRU might be the only option for TF collecting for certain people. I also can't help but wonder what's going to happen to certain exclusives i.e. Studio Series Thundercracker. Are we going to get an alternative outlet for purchasing it, or are we just not going to see it as a result of this?

Thundercacker is already out at TRU, and was the last TRU exclusive.

[TK415]

how does liquidating stores and inventory help lenders? Aren't the locations leased? Are the stores locations owned? Selling real estate would bring in money. Thanks for any answers.

[Logsters65]

If anyone has any news or theories on what might happen to the Canadian stores please let me know, I really hope they don't close down because it's my main supplier for transformers