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Toys 'R' Us has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US and Canada as it attempts to restructure its debts.
The firm was once a dominant player in the US toy market, but has struggled against larger rivals such as Amazon.
The move casts a shadow over the future of the company's nearly 1,600 stores and 64,000 employees.
The firm's European operations are not part of the bankruptcy proceedings and Toys R Us says it does not expect any immediate impact on its UK stores.
Toys R Us's operations in Australia, about 255 licensed stores and a joint venture partnership in Asia are also not included in the bankruptcy move.
[...] The bankruptcy filing is more evidence that traditional retailers are struggling in the US, as online retailers continue to capture market share.
Amazon marches on, or we're just at 'Peak Toy'?
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Wednesday September 20 2017, @12:40AM (2 children)
Doesn't really matter. At one time there were many toy retailers, now there is Toys-R-Us and a very few struggling mom and pop shops. Soon there will be none because the small fry have little chance of obtaining inventory once the whole supply chain is a nozzle feeding direct into Amazon and Walmart.
Even video gaming is quickly reducing to Amazon and Walmart, Gamestop is about the only retailer of note remaining and how long can they hold out? Most specialty players in retail is having similar problems. Big box in general is in trouble other than Walmart. K-Mart / Sears (S-Mart) is a dead man walking, Target is pozzed to the max. Best Buy is wobbly, apparently living off of Geek Squad removing malware and the FBI bounties to plunder people's PC while doing it. Ain't any big retailers doing gangbusters.
Drug stores, Dollar stores and auto parts seem immune for now.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday September 20 2017, @07:35PM (1 child)
Soon there will be none because the small fry have little chance of obtaining inventory once the whole supply chain is a nozzle feeding direct into Amazon and Walmart.
As I said in another post here, the only way to survive in retail is to offer something that Amazon and Walmart simply cannot, such as by being a fancy boutique store offering personalized service.
Even video gaming is quickly reducing to Amazon and Walmart, Gamestop is about the only retailer of note remaining and how long can they hold out?
Why would you buy a game from Gamestop when you can get the exact same thing at Amazon or Walmart for less? It's like this for many, many other things. Does Gamestop offer great personalized service and knowledgeable staff? Do buyers even care about that? Most likely, they read about the games they want online, they read reviews by other players, and decide based on that, not based on one salesperson's word at a shop.
Target is pozzed to the max.
"Pozzed"? Definition please. Target to me seems to be in decent shape; in many places, they offer something Walmart cannot: a better shopping experience, for only slightly more money. The slightly higher cost keeps out the riff-raff and People of Walmart, and you get a store that's cleaner, without trash and broken products and half-empty shelves looking like a war-zone, and you don't feel like you're going to be mugged by the customers. But this is location-dependent: when I lived in NJ, this exactly how it was: Target was nice, while Walmart had me thinking I should be armed and wearing body armor. But where I am now, the Walmarts are very decent, and while some of the customers are still candidates for PoW, they don't have gang tattoos on their faces and I don't fear for my safety. And correspondingly, there's not that many Targets around here.
Best Buy is wobbly, apparently living off of Geek Squad
See, here's an example of what I was talking about: offering something that Walmart/Amazon can't: personalized service (even if it is really shitty service, but most people are so clueless about managing their PCs that Geek Squad works for them).
Big box in general is in trouble other than Walmart.
This is generally true. HHGregg (basically like Best Buy but without Geek Squad) just shut its doors, and it's a bit of a mystery how Sears is still alive (it seems like basically their CEO is raiding the company and grabbing all their real-estate holdings, which are significant).
Drug stores, Dollar stores and auto parts seem immune for now.
You can get drugs at Walmart, so my guess there is that people go there because they're more convenient than Walmart, but the prices are usually atrocious. Dollar stores are a bit of a mystery to me: if you look at the value you get, it's generally bad (e.g., your price-per-unit is better at Walmart, they make smaller sizes for the dollar stores, etc.), so I think they just take advantage of people's ignorance. Auto parts stores have terrible prices, but provide something that Amazon can't: immediate service (your car just broke and you need it for work, so you get the part at Autozone instead of waiting for an online merchant to ship it to you; batteries are also probably a big part of their business because they tend to die suddenly, leaving your car inoperative, but a quick jump-start can get you to the nearest parts store where they'll change it out for you).
Other stores that seem to be doing just fine are extremely high-end mall shops selling luxury goods (I mean the ones at malls where they have a Bentley or McLaren on display inside, and there's valet service outside with a bunch of luxury cars parked up front). You don't buy a Rolex on Amazon. So apparently there's some sector of the population that can afford to keep these places in business.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 20 2017, @09:48PM
What you are forgetting about Sears is that the stuff that many people think of when shopping there (Large Appliances, yard machines, etc.) last for a long time and require maintenance. They also have autoshops and small engine repair. So all those people who buy their stuff are likely to also be on the long-tail of getting the maintenance, parts and fluids for what they bought.