The Ultimate Green-Tag Clearance: TRU being sold, likely to close

S

seanw

CAGiversary!
Feedback
6 (100%)
Toys R Us is definitely being sold -- it sounds like the board might choose a buyer today -- and it looks increasingly likely that whoever buys it will drop the toy line and either deal just with the Babies R Us merchandise or simply cannibalize the franchise for the prime real estate.

It is unclear what each of the competing buyers have planned for the toys unit after they take it over. The presence of the real estate investment trusts Kimco and Vornado - which also owns a 4.3 per cent stake in Sears, Roebuck - suggests those groups might want to break up the extensive property portfolio rather than make their own attempt at reviving its operations.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/de57a300-8e8a-11d9-8aae-00000e2511c8.html
Click to expand...
 
Short term gains are rarely worth the long term losses.

Since TRU was actually reasonable about when to clearence games, it would be terrible to see them leave the market.

I mean, would you want to see a market where walmart, EB and Gamestop dicated the prices?
 
Toys R Us is seeling only yhr toy unit to another firm and keeping the more profitable Baies R Us Franchise. Who ever buys the toy unit is going to keep running it, they may close some stores but most of them will stay open.
 
[quote name='JSweeney']Short term gains are rarely worth the long term losses.

Since TRU was actually reasonable about when to clearence games, it would be terrible to see them leave the market.

I mean, would you want to see a market where walmart, EB and Gamestop dicated the prices?[/quote]

Walmart, EB, Gamestop, Circuit City, Best Buy, Target, and Kmart already dictate the prices. How is TRU closing going to change that? If TRU was a major player in any one department they'd shift their focus to that department instead of closing all their stores.
 
TRU is more a sideline player much like KB toys. With only a few exclusive toys that keep them in the spotlight. Whoever buys them, I hope they make them a better competitor, if not it will just be another loss for us gamers.
 
More like "The Ultimate Deceiving Thread Title." You have no info at all on the main part of the threads title. Change the topic.
 
Yea bro the topic is way off, no proof or anything

were talking about my job here, almost pissed myself when I saw the title
 
The thread title is sarcasm. He means that TRU being sold is the ULTIMATE greentag clearence. The actual selling of the store itself, not that there's going to be a clearence.

Edit: that's the way I read it at least
 
[quote name='Slick1237']So is there a 90% off sale going on?????[/quote]

Hell yeah!I just got Brothers in Arms,SW republic Commando,GT4,and RE4 all for $10 each!! :shock:























:lol: :wink:
 
[quote name='DX'][quote name='Slick1237']So is there a 90% off sale going on?????[/quote]

Hell yeah!I just got Brothers in Arms,SW republic Commando,GT4,and RE4 all for $10 each!! :shock:

:lol: :wink:[/quote]

assuming they're $50 each, you would've only paid $5 for each of them during a 90% off sale....so i know you're a liar \:D/
 
Short term gains are rarely worth the long term losses.

Kind of sucks. Gotta ton of games from them for cheap. Oh well I guess.
 
I, for one, don't really miss the game clearance as much as losing part of my childhood. I grew up w/ TRU back in Hong Kong and all the way till now here in the states. Sucks that my kids in the future would not have a chance to browse through a toy only superstore like I did. I hope whoever buys it, will try to turn it around and continue to run it competitively.
 
[quote name='SOSTrooper']I, for one, don't really miss the game clearance as much as losing part of my childhood. I grew up w/ TRU back in Hong Kong and all the way till now here in the states. Sucks that my kids in the future would not have a chance to browse through a toy only superstore like I did. I hope whoever buys it, will try to turn it around and continue to run it competitively.[/quote]

Well, I miss the TRU of my childhood, which is not the same TRU that exists today. TRU has gone over massive changes, including replacing aisles for "worlds" (big open, less stocked shopping areas), as well as keeping videogames on the shelves. The TRUs of today are alot more complicated to walk through, and they have less products. Also, most of the TRUs I visit have poorly maintained merchandise (action figures with bent packaging).

So yeah, I'll miss TRU, about the same as I already miss it. Losing TRU now would just mean losing future deals. But seeing as we have new consoles coming out anyway, I don't see any really good deals coming for quite awhile (past the initial current-gen clean out).
 
[quote name='SEGA128DC']I also grew up with TRU, I would hate to see them go...:([/quote]

me too. remember when you had to take the slips of paper under the games to the counter so you could buy it?
 
I remember when toysaurus and Lionel Playworld used to scrap in the streets. Lionel always got made fun of because its aisles were darker than your mom's glamour shots
 
I may be showing my age here but I can remember when Toys R us was called "Bargain Town" and was the greatest place on earth to a little kid. I will be sorry to see them go if it actually comes to that.
 
[quote name='bmulligan']I may be showing my age here but I can remember when Toys R us was called "Bargain Town" and was the greatest place on earth to a little kid. I will be sorry to see them go if it actually comes to that.[/quote]

I'd have to say so, since I'm 40 and can remember TRU going back to the early 70's. This was in Southern California, so the stores in your area may have been among the oldest and didn't get rebranded until long after they'd started using the TRU name on new locations.

Interesting note: Charles Lazarus credits Sam Walton as a mentor and he served on the Wal-mart Board for eight years. What is TRU's #1 competitor today? Wal-mart.
 
I wish they kept the tickets for video games. It was aggravating to occasionally buy a game that they didn't have in back. It was also cool to think they were out of a game, only to find a slip for it in back of all the slips in a games pocket that wasn't even for the same system. Then again it was aggravating knowing I wouldn't find 99% of those. It's just part of my childhood.

Though I also miss child world, not sure if that was nationwide or just in the northeast. Toys r us bought them out (at least I think, since they moved into most of their old stores), and I used to like child world better than toys r us.
 
[quote name='The Successful Dropout'][quote name='DX'][quote name='Slick1237']So is there a 90% off sale going on?????[/quote]

Hell yeah!I just got Brothers in Arms,SW republic Commando,GT4,and RE4 all for $10 each!! :shock:

:lol: :wink:[/quote]

assuming they're $50 each, you would've only paid $5 for each of them during a 90% off sale....so i know you're a liar \:D/[/quote]

:lol:
 
I work at Toys R Us, and if you even knew half of how they treat there employees you'd be glad to see it go like me. With in the year, its will turn into a babies r us. WooHoo!!!! But really, is it that big a deal? The only people that shop at our store are Spawn collectors and old people with money, half the time bums just want to use our pay phones and jack most of our overpriced shit.
 
[quote name='GTmaster39']I work at Toys R Us, and if you even knew half of how they treat there employees you'd be glad to see it go like me. With in the year, its will turn into a babies r us. WooHoo!!!! But really, is it that big a deal? The only people that shop at our store are Spawn collectors and old people with money, half the time bums just want to use our pay phones and jack most of our overpriced shit.[/quote]

That's kind of how I feel, I used to work there.I just feel bad for those that will lose jobs..
 
i doubt they are ALL going to close, seeing as how a brand spanking new Toys r Us just opened up near me in La Crosse, WI about 3 months ago.
 
[quote name='DenisDFat']I remember when toysaurus and Lionel Playworld used to scrap in the streets. Lionel always got made fun of because its aisles were darker than your mom's glamour shots[/quote]

Remember when Columbia, SC had a Lionel Playworld when TRU moved in down the street. More or less took all their business. My dad did pick up a Colecovision and 10 games for 100 bucks when Lionel was shutting down. :) Still have it too!
 
You mean, no more of this?

aae.sized.jpg
 
[quote name='Stoneage']You mean, no more of this?

aae.sized.jpg
[/quote]

Wow 2,999

Must be to make up for the losses on the Atari ET game. :p
 
[quote name='Dogpatch'][quote name='Stoneage']You mean, no more of this?

aae.sized.jpg
[/quote]

Wow 2,999

Must be to make up for the losses on the Atari ET game. :p[/quote]

Is that from a foreign country? In foreign currency?
 
First, I work for TRU too.

TRU will likely not close. The realtor investors made bids that were deemed too low this week, two of the final 4 making bids are realty companies. Three out of four of the bidders were told their bids were too low in fact.

There is a mystery bidder that made an interesting bid today, if you do a search for tru on any search engine you can read about it.

Here are the two things that are possible:

1. The more likely thing to happen will be that TRU will be bought by an investment company that will cut costs, minimize costs and focus the company in on more specific products (electronics most likely).

2. If the company is bought by a realty there is a chance they will kill the stores and sell the land/building some of which TRU actually owns.


I think it's close to 70% likely that #1 will occur based on the market and the availability of information on the corporate level.
 
[quote name='evilmax17']

Well, I miss the TRU of my childhood, which is not the same TRU that exists today. TRU has gone over massive changes, including replacing aisles for "worlds" (big open, less stocked shopping areas), as well as keeping videogames on the shelves.[/quote]

Actually, all the TRUs in my area are EXACTLY the same, and that's the problem. It's like going back in time just walking into one of those things.

And yes, they all still have the paper tickets for video games.
 
[quote name='nickmad'][quote name='SEGA128DC']I also grew up with TRU, I would hate to see them go...:([/quote]

me too. remember when you had to take the slips of paper under the games to the counter so you could buy it?[/quote]

Yup... I remember it clearly like it was last week...wait it was last week. My TRU still uses the ticket system.

TRU sucked. Their prices were never competitive to begin with. They had Everything or nothing priced at $21.99 instead of GH price, same with Simpsons Hit and run. Even with game guides, they would punch out the cover price and sell it a couple of bucks more. That's why they're going out of business - lots of hype and marketing but no really good deals. Same goes for FAO Schwartz. Great toy stores to play in but only people with money to burn would shop at them.
 
I work at TRU, and have seen all the news about it. They, of course, do not tell us anything. TRU is worth money for its real estate, nothing more.
Expect to see it sold, then stock to jump, then apprasial for the real estate. Then... who knows.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top