Toys R Us To Close All 800 of Its US Stores (washingtonpost.com)

Toy store chain Toys R Us is reportedly planning to sell or close all 800 of its U.S. stores (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source), affecting as many as 33,000 jobs as the company winds down its operations after six decades. The Washington Post reports: The news comes six months after the retailer filed for bankruptcy. The company has struggled to pay down nearly $8 billion in debt -- much of it dating back to a 2005 leveraged buyout -- and has had trouble finding a buyer. There were reports earlier this week that Toys R Us had stopped paying its suppliers, which include the country's largest toy makers. On Wednesday, the company announced it would close all 100 of its U.K. stores. In the United States, the company told employees closures would likely occur over time, and not all at once, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations.

Comments

Re:Not surprising.

[kamapuaa]

No. This is wildly untrue. There's huge amounts of science kits and craft stuff. There's some action figures, but really not that much. There's actually a large variety of toys, and given that Target has a smaller selection, a ToysRUs has all the toys a Target will have.

They didn't do anything wrong, just the business model was outdated. It went the way of camera stores or bookstores. The way BestBuy or Fry's will go sometime in the next decade...swallowed by Amazon.com (and to a lesser extent, Walmart/Target). It costs a little bit more, and busy parents would rather order something online than drive 15 minutes down the road (or at least, that's how I am).

Re:A loss for children. Adults, not so much.

[mnemotronic]

This is not surprising (Internet, etc. etc.). However, few things can compete with the sheer joy I had as a child when given the rare opportunity to roam the aisles of a Toys R' Us to discover, touch, test, and play with the toys. The "aisles" of Amazon are a poor substitute for a child.

Or the aisles of Walmart.

Giving away my age (neolithic) here, but for me nothing compared with the old Sears Christmas catalog.