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Toys "R" Us - 50% scraps are all that's left


jsteele

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5 minutes ago, BrickLegacy said:

I'm not expecting much.  Everyone has plenty of lead time on this so I'm expecting the stores to be flooded with Grandmas and Soccer Moms at 20% off.

 

1 minute ago, Alpinemaps said:

For SoCal, I'm willing to bet the vultures (e.g., Soccer Mom's) will hit the store as soon as 10% off kicks in, and decimate it.  I can hope that we'll see some real stuff on sale, but seriously doubt there will be much of anything at any good discount.

i'll join the crowd . 

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based on how speed champions did before, i would buy alot of it at 20% off from TRU probably elves too, but thats it.

The rest would need to hit 50%.

There was an article stating the group that is bidding on TRU Canada may try to buy several hundred of the stores in the US and keep them running under the TRU name.

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I'm not expecting much.  Everyone has plenty of lead time on this so I'm expecting the stores to be flooded with Grandmas and Soccer Moms at 20% off.

I had my friend, a Star Wars collector, text me excitedly saying we need to watch the stores in our region. I told him I’d give him the skinny, but not to expect much. He called me a Debbie Downer.
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2 hours ago, Ed Mack said:

All they needed to be was the cheapest toy retailer in the world and things would have worked out.  

Bad news for LEGO...

http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/09/investing/toys-r-us-closing-hasbro-mattel/index.html

I do wonder if a Charles Lazarus - clone took over in 1994.  Lazarus was getting old  by that time but he built the TRU empire.  He's mentioned in a book I’m reading now, Console Wars.   I liked his spirit.  When no retailer would stand up to Nintendo's absurd strict 1-way policies about no returns and not being able or discount poor selling games , the old man told Nintendo “ok” and did it anyway.  

Anyway like Sears and countless other companies, TRU didn’t properly adapt to strict competitors .

from my experiences, things went especially bad affter the buy-out.

”But Toys R U's biggest albatross was its massive debt load since private-equity firms Bain Capital, KKR & Co. and Vornado Realty Trust took it private in a $6.6 billion leveraged buyout in 2005.”

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3 hours ago, jaisonline said:

from my experiences, things went especially bad affter the buy-out.

”But Toys R U's biggest albatross was its massive debt load since private-equity firms Bain Capital, KKR & Co. and Vornado Realty Trust took it private in a $6.6 billion leveraged buyout in 2005.”

Yes good old Bain Capital borrowed heavily against the company's assets and siphoned all of the money off. By the time Amazon became the 800lb gorilla it is today TRU had no money left to develop its online sales or build a workable 2 day distribution network. If the new owners had not wrecked the balance sheet and looked forward instead of sideways TRU would be doing quite well today.

Toy makers are going to be hit especially hard at a time when they are facing very strong headwinds (kids don't play with physical toys these days). I predict alot of toy makers will file for bankruptcy over the next 5 years. I predict Disney will buy out The Lego Group for a song. Walmart, Amazon and Target have all of the leverage and will be getting their toys very, very cheap from now on.

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9 hours ago, glostik said:

based on how speed champions did before, i would buy alot of it at 20% off from TRU probably elves too, but thats it.

The rest would need to hit 50%.

There was an article stating the group that is bidding on TRU Canada may try to buy several hundred of the stores in the US and keep them running under the TRU name.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/14/toys-r-us-is-exploring-a-plan-that-could-keep-200-stores-open-even-after-liquidation.html

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seriously doubt speed champions is getting dropped.  pretty sure its only a tru exclusive in north america. 

you can buy speed champions directly from amazon in the uk and europe.

speed champions might possibly end up being shop at home exclusive in usa which in the end might actually be a good thing for investors living close to a lego store since there will be limited avenues for buying them.

actually all the tru exclusive sets from various themes will be more attractive as investments if there are going to be that much fewer places to get them .

i just don't see Target and Walmart opening up already contracting lego shelf space for a new theme when they are already cutting back space.

i spend very little at tru since the nearest 2 are both 56 miles away.

Edited by cladner
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33 minutes ago, cladner said:

seriously doubt speed champions is getting dropped.  pretty sure its only a tru exclusive in north america. 

you can buy speed champions directly from amazon in the uk and europe.

speed champions might possibly end up being shop at home exclusive in usa which in the end might actually be a good thing for investors living close to a lego store since there will be limited avenues for buying them.

actually all the tru exclusive sets from various themes will be more attractive as investments if there are going to be that much fewer places to get them .

i just don't see Target and Walmart opening up already contracting lego shelf space for a new theme when they are already cutting back space.

i spend very little at tru since the nearest 2 are both 56 miles away.

Actually, there are non-chain retail stores in the US who also carry Speed Champions ....

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8 minutes ago, Phil B said:

Actually, there are non-chain retail stores in the US who also carry Speed Champions ....

Really? I am curious as to where. I am lucky in that I am close to 2 Lego Stores so it wont be a problem regardless, but still, in my small city alone, if TRU/BRU closes, that will be 2 more large vacancies. Granted I live in a city where the retail/commercial to residential ratio is like 65:35 which is abnormal. Still, the retail-scape in general is suffering big time.

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19 minutes ago, CosmicSpeed said:

Really? I am curious as to where. I am lucky in that I am close to 2 Lego Stores so it wont be a problem regardless, but still, in my small city alone, if TRU/BRU closes, that will be 2 more large vacancies. Granted I live in a city where the retail/commercial to residential ratio is like 65:35 which is abnormal. Still, the retail-scape in general is suffering big time.

I don't recall ever seeing Speed Champions in a Lego Store, but maybe I was never looking.

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