KB Toys bankrupt-closing sales to begin immediately

IAmTheCheapestGamer

IAmTheCheapestGamer

Banned
[Taken from AOL Money]

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/bbdp/retailer-kb-toys-plans-to-shut-down/274875

NEW YORK (Dec. 11) - KB Toys Inc., one of the largest U.S. toy retailers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, with a plan to close all of its stores, the latest chain to succumb to the sharp decline in consumer spending this year.

The company, which runs about 460 stores, said in court papers it intends to immediately begin going-out-of-business sales in its stores, while trying to find a buyer for its wholesale distribution unit.
KB Toys filed a petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, along with eight affiliates, listing assets in the range of $100 million to $500 million, and liabilities in the same range.

The company, which started in 1922 as a family-owned business, previously filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004, and emerged from bankruptcy in 2005 after selling itself to Prentice Capital Management Inc.

It suffered a "sudden and sharp decline in consumer sales due to macro-economic forces" during its most critical selling season, Raymond Borst, the company's controller, said in a court affidavit.

In the period from Oct. 5 through Dec. 8, same-store sales dropped almost 20 percent from the year-earlier period.
KB Toys said it has 10,850 employees, about 6,515 of which are seasonal. About 277 stores are located in malls, and 30 operate seasonally and were set to close in January.

KB Toys listed Hong-Kong based consumer goods exporter Li & Fung Ltd. as its largest creditor with a claim of about $27.2 million. U.S. toymaker Mattel Inc was the next largest creditor with a $1.3 million claim.
 
Personally, I never thought they had any decent prices and most of the stores of theirs I'd been in recently had stopped selling some product lines(namely games), which made me even less likely to go into the stores in the first place.
 
They always were overpriced, but they did have good deals once in a while. The $1, $5 and $10 clearance sale was deal of the year for 2005 for me. It was great getting games $49.99 elsewhere for $10. Then 2 months later they had B1G1 free on all games and with prices already lower (like DS games for $19.99 that were $29.99 elsewhere), it was amazing.

There was also the Super Toy Run that I always thought was cool but that really was more of a Nickelodoen thing and didn't have to do with the store.

So I will miss them a little but since that sale I don't think I have bought anything from them. I only went in there for video games and they only carried "value" games (at not so value prices) now and with Walmart and Target having toys, and of course Toys R Us not to mention Amazon who has great prices, if I was buying toys, I'd have little reason to go in to KB.
 
As a gamer this means nothing, since they got out of Video Games a long time ago. As an action figure collector however, this is troubling, since KB was pretty much the last bastion of brick and mortar stores that collectors could depend on to find all the latest stuff without paying exorbitant prices online or on eBay. Walmart is a joke, as they only carry mainstream and popular stuff, and is so sporadic with their inventory, they overstock crap no one wants, and refuse to liquidate it to make room for the new items people do want. Toys R Us is hit and miss, and you have to hit them up as soon as they open, or else the shelves will have been raided, and by 3pm all that will be left is junk.
 
They are closing AGAIN?!?! I remember the one in Fairoaks mall that was about to close, then at the last minute was KEPT OPEN. I was like OK....

Now it's going under again... this time for good.
 
Sad.

Another one of my childhood pleasures, gone.

Although they closed both stores in both of my hometowns years ago.

Still sad nonetheless, especially considering I never had a TRU in my town and Kaybee was one of the few toys stores I grew up with.

I remember back in the late 80's when they opened one in my mall, my mom got me a Janine Melnitz figure from The Real Ghostbusters the day they opened.
 
The one near me closed two years ago... and honestly, I really don't care that they're going out of business.

They had a terrible selection of toys and they had an outdated and over priced selection of games. The only time I found a deal there was when they had a B1G1 half off sale years ago.
 
This is unfortunate, although I'm not surprised since whenever I passed by a KB in a mall, I always wondered how they were doing after their financial troubles from 2004. Still, the best thing I liked about them was how they had this quaint toy store feel to them, and they did have action figures that didn't seem to be quite as common at places like TRU back when I still liked collecting those. I'm pretty sure I got the TMNT Super Shredder action figure from them. All good things must come to an end though...
 
I haven't seen a KB Toys in years. Last time I was in one.. must've been nearly ten years ago. Used to be a couple around me back home, but the malls they were in have gone to shit so it's no surprise they're gone even if the company weren't finished.
 
Well I am a little sad. When I was a kid I spent a lot of time in KB toy stores, so I have nostalgic feeling. I actually bought my first game system, the NES, at a KB. However, I don't think I have bought anything in one in quite a few years.
 
[quote name='Friend of Sonic']Well, hopefully this will only help TRU stay in business. Say what you will about TRU, but they run some good deals.[/QUOTE]

They only run good deals because of competition. See: Game$top.

I got Mega Man 2 at KB on my birthday. This news makes me sad :(
 
I guess they'll still be online? Not that it matters much since they rarely have any good deals on games.
 
i am in the market for ps3 games. anyone sees newer titles like resisitance 2 or 007 qos give me a price and i will let ya know. our local kay b has been gone for about 4 years
 
Man, I remember going to KB since the NES/Star Wars/Ghostbusters days.

I haven't really gone there since the Genesis/GI Joe days, though.

Sad. Did they even keep up with the times on video games?
 
KB was always good for TMNT figures back in the late 80s and early 90s. Thing is, I used to make my rounds with my dad to all of the stores looking for figures. We'd usually start at Children's Palace, head over to Kiddie City, then to Toys R Us, and lastly to KB. I went there last because the prices were higher and they usually didn't have as much of a selection. Anyway, all of those stores except for Toys R Us is gone. Sad, really. I spent a lot of my childhood at those places!
 
I see that a number of people are saying that their local stores don't sell games or sell mostly shovelware crap. This was true for my stores, as well, up until a few months ago. I was walking past the one in Newport Mall and saw a rack with a number of fairly decent titles, like Guitar Hero 3 for the PS2. It was nothing mind-blowing, and they were obviously full price. But just pointing out that some of these stores apparently do still dabble in a bit of gaming.
 
Meh, mine only has budget titles.

I do remember when I played yu gi oh, buying a pack and it rung up for 50 cents, so I bought all the packs they had.
 
Just saw this on the news this evening. It's a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, likely similar to CompUSA earlier this year.

That means a liquidator will come in and start slashing prices.

I may have a KB Toys or two in the area and will mosey in to see what the deals actually are.
 
[quote name='Telemakhos']Just saw this on the news this evening. It's a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, likely similar to CompUSA earlier this year.

That means a liquidator will come in and start slashing prices.

I may have a KB Toys or two in the area and will mosey in to see what the deals actually are.[/quote]

Just because they declare chapter 11 does not mean they are "going out of business". Pepsi declared bankruptcy back in the 30's...worked out pretty well for them.
 
I'm not even sure that KB actually sells consoles. Every store I've ever been in only sells handheld stuff, and most of it is licensed movie stuff or budget titles.
 
[quote name='coilfinger3']Just because they declare chapter 11 does not mean they are "going out of business". Pepsi declared bankruptcy back in the 30's...worked out pretty well for them.[/quote]

Too bad they've already stated they are closing all of the stores.
 
[quote name='coilfinger3']Just because they declare chapter 11 does not mean they are "going out of business". Pepsi declared bankruptcy back in the 30's...worked out pretty well for them.[/quote]

But the newscast did say they were closing all 160+ of their stores, so that's a good sign.

CompUSA filed bankruptcy last year into early this year. They closed all brick and mortar stores in all states, except TX, FL and Puerto Rico. I got a ton of deals at the team, including many cheap, cheap games (back in February).

They mainly operate as a e-tailor these days, and their website is linked with TigerDirect. In store, however, the deals were sweet, so I expect the same here.

One deal so far is Buy 2, Get 1 free games for in-store only:

http://www3.kbkids.com/kbhome.htm?lid=HdrKBstores&lpos=TopLinks
 
from the AP
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ixmweyZKNsf_naElFXtszcmotoEAD950NFJ80

dont see were it says there closing stores there trying to stop that from happening

note is dose say

KB Toys filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and emerged nearly two years later as a subsidiary of investment firm Prentice Capital Management, which owns 90 percent of the company's common stock. During that bankruptcy, KB sold its retail Internet operation to eToys Direct Inc., cut the number of retail stores from 1,200 to 650 and closed a distribution center.
 
Kaybee was always such a cool alternative to TRU. New things were always too expensive, but if stuff had been out for a while, then it's on a killer sale. My best experience with them is when the Tick animated action figures were being clearanced (and why? Everyone would have paid full price if we could find them!) and I called up a Kaybee an hour away and yes, they had the whole case of figures with the Man-Eating Cow, etc. I got a lot of Tick stuff from them.

About 2 years ago I remember seeing that they were getting rid of Dark Cloud 2 for only $10, and I've picked up quite a number of odd and dodgey PC games from them like Once Upon a Knight, and Carmageddon. It was always a big surprise to find something strange at a Kaybee.
 
I loved KB Toys as a kid. We didn't have a Toys R Us in our city when I was younger, so KB Toys was the equivalent... even if it was like 90% smaller. I got a Dreamcast there.
 
[quote name='Telemakhos']But the newscast did say they were closing all 160+ of their stores, so that's a good sign.

CompUSA filed bankruptcy last year into early this year. They closed all brick and mortar stores in all states, except TX, FL and Puerto Rico. I got a ton of deals at the team, including many cheap, cheap games (back in February).

They mainly operate as a e-tailor these days, and their website is linked with TigerDirect. In store, however, the deals were sweet, so I expect the same here.

One deal so far is Buy 2, Get 1 free games for in-store only:

http://www3.kbkids.com/kbhome.htm?lid=HdrKBstores&lpos=TopLinks[/quote]

It looks like it's the second time KB has filed in the past 4 years. They most likely didn't recover from the first bankruptcy and as a result are filing again and liquidating their assets to pay off creditors. However, since KB has been in financial disarray for some time now, creditors and distributors were probably more reluctant to front them stock. So although they may be spewing out some discounts, don't count on the actual merchandise to be anything spectacular. But who knows...maybe I'm wrong.
 
I worked for a restaraunt that filled chapter 11, we shut down 40% of our stores.

Thanx OP, I guess.

When they "liquidate" (and if anybody adds info) I'll make the drive, til then.....

EDIT: My KB at the mall had this big carpeted hole thing at the front entrance. Anyone else's have that. As a kid, that thing was the shit!!!!
 
[quote name='JJSP']I'm not even sure that KB actually sells consoles. Every store I've ever been in only sells handheld stuff, and most of it is licensed movie stuff or budget titles.[/quote]


I read an article that said they didn't even sell Wii consoles, which is a really dumb move.
 
I remember when I was a kid my parents getting our family NES from the now long gone KB. The only other memory I have of KB was getting clearance Dreamcast games from them for cheap. Of course not too long later that location closed.
 
I haven't been to a KB Toys in years. We only had 2 in our area. The first one closed down about 15 years ago , the second closed down about 4 years ago (most likely during the 1st bankruptcy). Its not hard to know why though , their prices almost always sucked , and their selection was always way out of date. They would be carrying PS1 games at full price well into the PS2 years.

Best thing to come out of the second store closing was I got a few really good xbox 1 games for $10 (such as Panzer Dragoon Orta) and a Game.com with a large selection of games for about $10 as well (they didn't even know what the thing was , they just pulled it out of the stock room and marked it down:lol:).

Bottom line , as much as seeing competition die out is bad , when the company sucks its kinda hard to feel that bad for them (kinda like Circuit City).
 
Wow. :( KB Toys use to be the only place in the 'burbs to go to buy videogames way, way back in the day.
 
A piece on bloomberg.com suggests they are closing all their stores but they in the first sentence but nothing actually spells that out in the piece

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awF9nHheY7qw&refer=home

A Wall Street Journal piece says while its a chapter 11, it is still liquidation...Chapter 11 offers owners more control over the liquidation vs Chapter 7 when a trustee is appointed by the court to handle the liquidation.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122901585422798605.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

So it sounds like they are shutting it down, but they want handle it their way and on their timetable.

The original CompUSA was completely shut down...Tigerdirect came in and bought their trademarks and some other assets including some retail outlets as a part of the CompUSA liquidation. So while their website says CompUSA, it is actually systemax/tigerdirect behind it

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...compusa-assets-snapped-up-by-tigerdirect.html
 
Where were these warm and fuzzies went Circuit City got into trouble? I know KB never went after a CAGer but the CC clearances are the shit.
 
Eh, I just always dug that even as recently as...god, must've been 2003 or so when there was a store in the Santa Clarita Valley, they still sold Genesis hardware.

That was awesome. I mean, I'm pretty sure it was the Majesco-manufactured Genesis stuff, but still.
 
[quote name='K_G']A piece on bloomberg.com suggests they are closing all their stores but they in the first sentence but nothing actually spells that out in the piece

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awF9nHheY7qw&refer=home

A Wall Street Journal piece says while its a chapter 11, it is still liquidation...Chapter 11 offers owners more control over the liquidation vs Chapter 7 when a trustee is appointed by the court to handle the liquidation.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122901585422798605.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

So it sounds like they are shutting it down, but they want handle it their way and on their timetable.

The original CompUSA was completely shut down...Tigerdirect came in and bought their trademarks and some other assets including some retail outlets as a part of the CompUSA liquidation. So while their website says CompUSA, it is actually systemax/tigerdirect behind it

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...compusa-assets-snapped-up-by-tigerdirect.html[/quote]

Yeah, as someone who benefited from CompUSA's liquidation, I know how liquidations work pretty well now. But it took a ton of travel back and forth to several stores and getting in good with the workes to get the absolute best deals. My best deal was getting an HP Pavilion Elite m9060n for $1,050. It's actually gone up in price since then to...

http://www.amazon.com/Pavilion-m906...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1229060072&sr=8-1

... because it has a hybrid Blu-Ray/HD DVD player. Magazines and game guides were the biggest deals. I got some game guides for $0.97. I'm a game design student, so I was all over those types of deals.

But, yeah, you're right. The CompUSA website is simply TigerDirect Jr. TD is simply utilizing CompUSA's familar brick and mortar brand online. I've gotten some good deals from there and still receive emails reguarly from the site.

CompUSA does still exist in brick and mortar, but only a few renovated mega stores in TX, FL and Puerto Rico. They're no longer a *national* chain.
 
[quote name='CactusZac098']KB Toys has been horrible for I don't know how long. Only thing they have good is old action figures from the 90's.[/quote]

In a way, I know what you mean. I've always considered KB a last-resort store. I hadn't even thought about them for years until I heard the newcast regarding their closing.

I always thought they were too expensive, like Virgin Records. But Tower Records went out of business and now Virgin gets to benefit. (Yes, I did attend Tower's closing sale, too! ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top