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My TRU store abruptly today. I was there last night and there were some empty shelves but still lots of merchandise (including Cybertron). I only picked up a couple things and planned on going tomorrow to get a couple more but I just found out it's permanently closed today. I would have bought a lot more had I known they were closing today. I'm bummed.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Galactic Prime wrote:I'll bid a Box of Costco sized tissues for all you Americans to wipe your tears away because Canada is going to keep having TRU.

I'll add this.

I was making terrible jokes at the expense of all my american compatriots today with my wife when I strolled into a fully stocked TRU in Canada that was alive and well.

And picked these up for a friend:



Toys the US never got at retail from a store the US no longer has.

You've got the touch Willie, you've got the power.

Thought about taking the journey down to the one remaining TRU in the state next week while I'm on vacation, but it isn't showing up on the store locator. Either the locator is broken or they abruptly closed down all of the stores in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, the nearest one to me is in Massachusetts now.

I guess I can't be too surprised, they probably don't have any staff left working in them. I found a local article talking about how they've always had retention issues and have had a parade of other stores' recruiters coming in and leaving their business cards in the break room recently.



Emerje

william-james88 wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

Galactic Prime wrote:I'll bid a Box of Costco sized tissues for all you Americans to wipe your tears away because Canada is going to keep having TRU.

I'll add this.

I was making terrible jokes at the expense of all my american compatriots today with my wife when I strolled into a fully stocked TRU in Canada that was alive and well.

And picked these up for a friend:



Toys the US never got at retail from a store the US no longer has.

Alive and well for the time being

If you still have a TRU giftcard you can use it at Bed Bath and Beyond.

http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/03/pf/bed- ... index.html

^ now kids can get that TF electric toothbrush, and bed sheet set they always wanted

I agree that it's a sad trade but it's better than nothing. Bed Bath and Beyond does have candy though.

Hm, I knew about the trouble Toys 'R' Us was in, but I didn't stop to think about what this would mean for Transformer toys. I never bought TF toys from them because the TRU isn't very conveniently located from where I reside (both in distance and actually being able to find the entrance to their parking lot).

It seems, while there are no new shipments, the TRU's are redistributing product to stores that have higher customer sales. There are roughly 4 stores within a 20 mile radius of my home. I was a bit taken back when I went to the store nearest me a couple days ago and they appeared to have new product. The store clerk told me they were getting shipments of product from other stores closing down, and that "they would be the last to close" (now I assume that meant for our local area, not for the whole country...) . Still since most things I'm interested in were still only at 10% off, that's still higher than walmart or target, so I'm still waiting patiently for the sale amounts to increase enough to make it worth my while.

There were 2 stores in the bay Area, and one small outlet store in my area slated to close, even before the mass closing. It will be interesting to see indeed how long it takes for all the stores to close down. At this rate, I cant see it happening as soon as May, unless some deep discounts come pretty quickly. I guess I'm just comparing it to K-Mart. In my area it took several months foi rthe store to close. It died a slow death as the quantity of product grew to be less and less. I imagine the same for TRU, but I guess conceivably they could close before selling the majority of their product. I just have no idea where the unsold toys would go. Seems like a huge waste to send them back to their respective manufacturers, and I'm not sure if TRU would ship them directly to places like Marshalls, Ross or TJ Maxx.

LOL you want to talk slow painful death you should have seen Target in Canada. It started the day they opened

Galactic Prime wrote:LOL you want to talk slow painful death you should have seen Target in Canada. It started the day they opened

Man, I'm still bumbed about it. That was another place to hunt and they had the exclusives that I didn't had to import for once.

Sigh, too bad they were just "Walmart lite". Seriously, even Sears have gone under. The Bay need to double down on being high-class or their turn is next.

Not the closest TRU to me, but one about 10 miles out, on the other side of town. LOL...Yeah Windblade is definitely a "fan favorite"....

o.supreme wrote:Not the closest TRU to me, but one about 10 miles out, on the other side of town. LOL...Yeah Windblade is definitely a "fan favorite"....

That's not fair ... that's the BS "face shield" version. Notice the regular version (of which the one shown in your photo was a remold) has been nowhere to be found in quite a while.

o.supreme wrote:There were 2 stores in the bay Area, and one small outlet store in my area slated to close, even before the mass closing. It will be interesting to see indeed how long it takes for all the stores to close down. At this rate, I cant see it happening as soon as May, unless some deep discounts come pretty quickly. I guess I'm just comparing it to K-Mart. In my area it took several months foi rthe store to close. It died a slow death as the quantity of product grew to be less and less. I imagine the same for TRU, but I guess conceivably they could close before selling the majority of their product. I just have no idea where the unsold toys would go. Seems like a huge waste to send them back to their respective manufacturers, and I'm not sure if TRU would ship them directly to places like Marshalls, Ross or TJ Maxx.

I have a feeling it works like this ...

https://liquidations.walmart.com/?shipment_type=2

I accidentally discovered the wholesale liquidation aspect of Walmart's website a few months back. It's a gamble, but if you want leftover Walmart stock, here's how you really get it!

For those of us hoping that Toys R Us still had a shot at salvation, those hopes might have been squelched yesterday evening. Various mainstream news agencies reported yesterday that Toys R Us rejected billionaire Isaac Larian's bid to "save" hundreds of Toys R Us stores in the United States and Canada. Larian is the CEO of the toy company MGA Entertainment, home of the popular and highly collectible L.O.L. Surprise Dolls as well as Bratz (competitor to Barbie) and Little Tikes. As of this writing, it is unknown why Toys R Us rejected his bid, perhaps because it was not enough or maybe because it's just time to move on.

• Wall Street Journal - Toys ‘R’ Us Rules Out Billionaire Bratz Maker’s Offer
• USA Today - Billionaire toy maker's bid to save Toys R Us stores rejected
• Bloomberg - Toys ‘R’ Us Rejects Rescue Offer From Little Tikes’ Larian
• CNN Money - Toys 'R' Us rejects bid from Bratz CEO

Wall Street Journal wrote:Toys “R” Us Inc.’s lawyers and advisers have shot down an 11th-hour offer from a billionaire toy maker that would have kept some of its U.S. stores open, according to a person familiar with the matter.

According to USA Today, Mr Larian was quoted as saying "If this is true, it is very disappointing," Larian said. "It is our hope and expectation that we can continue to participate in the bid process, so we can keep fighting to save Toys “R” Us," he said. ". We feel confident that we submitted a fair valuation of the company's U.S. assets in an effort to save the business and over 130,000 domestic jobs."

In other news related to Toys R Us, the chain has apparently begun turning away gift cards according to the New York Post. Toys R Us was supposed to accept gift cards through April 21st, though some shoppers have apparently had their gift cards turned away already.

Last month, Larian announced his intention to save as much of Toys R Us as he could via his #savetoysrus campaign. His efforts were apparently not enough, or perhaps there's more than meets the eye with Toys R Us rejecting his bid. Might someone have bid a higher amount that may have even more grand and apparently quieter plans for the chain? Or is Toys R Us simply another doomed franchise that is yet another casualty of the ongoing retail apocalypse. Time will tell, but be sure to keep following Seibertron.com for all of your latest Transformers news and major announcements about the fate of the beloved Toys R Us chain.

It might have been rejected due to the bidders other ventures, could make other toy businesses wary, would they be able to trust them to give their product a fair shake at things alongside the products that the owner's businesses make?

Seibertron wrote:it's just time to move on

I think this is the case :/ It's over, finished!

That sucks so it is true poor management

At the Toys R Us in my area, most things are still only 5 - 10 % off. If they think it's time to move on, they're taking their time about it.

That was the most low ball offer I have ever seen, literally pennies on the dollar. TRU Canada's real estate is estimated at close to 1B$

Seibertron wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Not the closest TRU to me, but one about 10 miles out, on the other side of town. LOL...Yeah Windblade is definitely a "fan favorite"....

That's not fair ... that's the BS "face shield" version. Notice the regular version (of which the one shown in your photo was a remold) has been nowhere to be found in quite a while.

I don't buy RiD toys...so I wasn't even aware there was another version...Still...I don't think there are that many savvy fans in my area that would reject this release solely based on that...

SUN OF A BISCUIT! im gonna miss toys r us thats for sure. I only got about have of theyre exclusives

From reading through the articles, it sounds like the offer was too low. Time will tell what happens in this story.

o.supreme wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Not the closest TRU to me, but one about 10 miles out, on the other side of town. LOL...Yeah Windblade is definitely a "fan favorite"....

That's not fair ... that's the BS "face shield" version. Notice the regular version (of which the one shown in your photo was a remold) has been nowhere to be found in quite a while.

I don't buy RiD toys...so I wasn't even aware there was another version...Still...I don't think there are that many savvy fans in my area that would reject this release solely based on that...

Why are we talking about fans? The RID line targetted kids, kids wanted toys fo waht they saw on the show. They wanted the windblade that looked like on the show and that toy sold out. This toy, which doesnt resemble that, didnt. So yeah, the proof that all of normal windblades sold out (everywhere it seems) shows that she is indeed a fan favourite.