Clearance sales coming?

https://www.thestreet.com/story/14297112/1/these-3-signs-reveal-that-toys-quot-r-quot-us-is-nearing-its-end.html

21 minutes ago, jsteele said:

Clearance sales coming?

https://www.thestreet.com/story/14297112/1/these-3-signs-reveal-that-toys-quot-r-quot-us-is-nearing-its-end.html

This reminds me that I should probably use that $50 gift card I have lying around soon...

That would suck, but the problem is they have not made their online shopping very competetive, other than the few times per year when they have sales.  Why buy a lego set from them online, or in the store, when you can get them on amazon for 20% cheaper.  Their model is doomed to fail unless they adapt. 

I hope not. As much as I don't really like shopping there I don't want it to go.

Just like FAO Schwarz, I liked to go look.

Better use those R'Us Rewards points when you still have the chance

 

First thing they should do is to not jack up the price ... they might be able to get a few sales for people who don't take their phone out and compare the price, but it's not going to keep them in business any longer these days.

First thing they should do is to not jack up the price ... they might be able to get a few sales for people who don't take their phone out and compare the price, but it's not going to keep them in business any longer these days.

Absolutely! I made a few purchases for the kids yesterday (all summer clearance), but I have been sitting on a discounted $200 gift card for months because I bought it before I realized just how much they jack up prices on "hard to find" sets. Sadly they aren't sold in store, so I'd have to order online with no price match. I might end up using it for overpriced diapers at
Babies R' Us.

Here, they have the T1 Camper priced 30% above RRP yet they were willing to sell Fortrexes and Jestro´s Lairs for sub 30 euros to clear them. The Star Wars buildables were also practically being given away.

Being a multinational, they probably do quite well in countries where there is not much competition and where Amazon doesn´t have a national web.

 

Let's be honest, when you've got:

• You have Chima sets still on the shelf, that have been retired for 2+ years, and they're still marked above RRP,
• You don't automatically PM your website (and PM'ing negates coupons and other discounts),
• You jack up the prices above RRP so that your sales aren't really sales,
• You have so many exclusions on your coupons, that you need a magnifying glass to read them,
• Your jacked up prices cause people to just go to the other big box store (Target, Walmart) that sells LEGO in the same shopping center

...you're gonna have trouble staying in business.

In the past year I've seen TRU lead the Canadian market with discounts on LEGO.  At first it was with regular 10% discounts and now they regularly bump up sales to 20%.  Amazon price matches but seldom lead with sales.  WM is good when they have clearance but otherwise There's no point.  As such, it would be sad to see TRU close down.

 

Toys  R US will never Close

Plenty of articles on the potential chapter 11 for TRU and the S&P downgrade.  $5 billion net debt going into a recession could end them and if it doesn't, sentiment has moved against them, so they'll have to restructure and some stores/operations will close.   But long term, how are they going to compete against amazon and walmart.  

 

 

3 hours ago, emazers said:

Toys  R US will never Close

maybe.  there are closer to being sears than amazon / walmart though.

i think the babies-r-us and young kid stuff is keeping them in biz.  that's about the only types of inventory i see that isn't a complete rip-off and people buying each time i'm in there.  the video game purchases prob also help.

Is this a sign?
I ordered a K'nex Super Mario Mystery bag (kid's request) and received some Backpack Buddy thing. The kicker is the staples & tape job. What kind of inventory is this, coming straight from TRU?   3rd party seller, I'd expect that, but not even Kmart has sent me stapled up repackaging.

 

Is this a sign?
I ordered a K'nex Super Mario Mystery bag (kid's request) and received some Backpack Buddy thing. The kicker is the staples & tape job. What kind of inventory is this, coming straight from TRU? [emoji20]  3rd party seller, I'd expect that, but not even Kmart has sent me stapled up repackaging.
 

Nothing really beats the time Bold Arrow received an envelope with only the packing slip in it.

Nothing really beats the time Bold Arrow received an envelope with only the packing slip in it.

There was the time I received a pair of hiking boots instead of my Lego set from Kmart. Lost a good coupon in that transaction.

There was the time I received a pair of hiking boots instead of my Lego set from Kmart. Lost a good coupon in that transaction.

Sorry but in my opinion, it is curtains/drapes that is the best mixed up order mentioned here.

8 hours ago, emazers said:

Toys  R US will never Close

The brand name will likely be sold to a Chinese concern who will change the business model to make it more profitable.

Losing TRU here in Europe would mean losing the main chance for getting large 'exclusives' like Star Wars UCS sets at a good discount (20% off all Lego Star Wars promo that TRU has about twice a year). I was counting on getting 75144 Snowspeeder through that 20% discount and am still eagerly waiting for that promo to drop (which should come around late October / early November). 

Currently TRU here is running the Bricktober collectable minifigures promo. But there's hardly any set worthy to buy at the increased TRU prices to get the free Bricktober promo. Only the first week's promo (Batman Movie set) was apparently a worthy promo because it sold out fast and is demanding quite a good price on auction sites. 

22 minutes ago, Haay said:

Losing TRU here in Europe would mean losing the main chance for getting large 'exclusives' like Star Wars UCS sets at a good discount (20% off all Lego Star Wars promo that TRU has about twice a year). I was counting on getting 75144 Snowspeeder through that 20% discount and am still eagerly waiting for that promo to drop (which should come around late October / early November). 

Currently TRU here is running the Bricktober collectable minifigures promo. But there's hardly any set worthy to buy at the increased TRU prices to get the free Bricktober promo. Only the first week's promo (Batman Movie set) was apparently a worthy promo because it sold out fast and is demanding quite a good price on auction sites. 

Yes but perhaps they are doing better in non US regions where there is little or no competition.

The brand name is interesting enough for another company to buy it and restructure, trimming all the fat off. Especially a company that wants to break into the US or European markets.

In the Nordics, TRU is owned by Danish TOP TOY A/S (that also owns BR, another big toy retailer in the region) - not sure how it works in other markets.

Over here, TOP TOY is making a profit (albeit with low margins) and have done so over the past years. Don't think they'll file for bankruptcy here anytime soon. They've recently lowered prices on many LEGO sets by quite a bit. There are even a few sets where they are cheaper than Amazon UK and Amazon DE, which I believe has never happened before.

However, one thing's for sure: They'll need to launch a new webshop, to compete with online-only stores in the region. The current webshop is CRAP in terms of browsing/searching/viewing/filtering products. 

Edited September 18, 20178 yr by bagalux

On 9/16/2017 at 6:35 PM, kd123 said:

In the past year I've seen TRU lead the Canadian market with discounts on LEGO.  At first it was with regular 10% discounts and now they regularly bump up sales to 20%.  Amazon price matches but seldom lead with sales.  WM is good when they have clearance but otherwise There's no point.  As such, it would be sad to see TRU close down.

 

I agree, If i want to buy a "common" set here in Canada i can usually count on TRU to put it at %20 off in a week or so. Walmart's clearances are few and far between, and most of the times hardly clearances. Amazon is practically useless and usually only price matches other peoples sales.

Target was great, their clearances were more unified across all locations and more frequent... still so sad they left Canada  TRU seems to be in a good place up here. Indigo has been trying to have an online presence in the Toy dept, but their brick and mortar stores selection in usually pretty weak.

On 9/7/2017 at 3:26 PM, fossilrock said:

That would suck, but the problem is they have not made their online shopping very competetive, other than the few times per year when they have sales.  Why buy a lego set from them online, or in the store, when you can get them on amazon for 20% cheaper.  Their model is doomed to fail unless they adapt. 

The last time I tried ordering via TRU online, I ended up on the phone with paypal, Fex Ex, and TRU customer service to figure why my order hadn't arrived a month after the shipping label was created.  After several calls, TRU finally admitted my order didn't actually exist and was never shipped!  Never shipped?  A label was printed and I was given tracking info but it doesn't exist?!  I smell something fishy, but whatever, just give me my money back.  That took two days because the first cust serv rep only refunded one of the two sets I ordered.  Another 45 min on the phone the next day finally got the rest of my money back.

The funniest part was I received a "how are we doing" survey just after the second day of phone calls.  I blasted them for their horrible online store, the shipping debacle, customer service mistakes, and their jacking up prices over RRP.  I also told them I'm not sure I'll ever order via TRU online again after my experience.  They were very quick to be all apologetic which makes me wonder if they've become accustomed to it.  *sigh*

The article posted above also mentions people not liking to go to the store due to lack of stock.  I can't recall the last time I saw a TRU "lacking stock."  In fact, it's quite the opposite.  But with markups like they typically use, the only time I buy from them is on deep discounts, sales, or promotions that I really really want.

My best personal reason why they are going bankrupt: Random stuffed tubes of polybags.