After closing around 200 retail locations earlier this year, in hopes to salvage enough time to find a buyer willing to pay off its debts, it seems that wasn't enough, as the toy store behemoth Toys 'R Us will be calling it quits. Failing to adapt to the ways of its modern day online competitors, as well as charging higher prices, the beloved chain could not compete. Toys 'R Us CEO David Brandon has officially filed for liquidation, leading to all remaining 800 stores in the United States and United Kingdom closing, and putting 35,000 workers out of a job. It's not known exactly when the stores will begin closing their doors, but this will affect all countries except Canada and Asia, where oddly enough, the stores actually still manage to flourish.

Source

 

[supergamer368]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO
rip
I kinda liked Toys R Us.

 

[LuigiXL]

Very sad for all the workers. Unfortunately it seemed here in the UK this was one of the companies that couldn't adapt beyond the 90's.. Everything was always at RRP, and in my experience the service was always a minimum. Even their "reserve" service failed as on two occasions I reserved items only to find they were not there or hadnt been picked. You have to acknowledge competition. I guess all that floor space didn't help things.

 

[leon315]

maybe doesn't sounds good, like has stock clearance started yet?

 

[Taffy]

NOOOOOOOOOOO

See, as somebody who modifies Nerf guns this is bad. TRU is a good supplier, and it's where most modders get a hold of blasters to tinker with. It's actually where I got my latest piece of work...(well aside from the aftermarket parts from China).

Rest in peace my friend.

 

[Noctosphere]

Never really went to toy-r-us
but still, rip...

 

[Spectral Blizzard]

Oh, FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!

 

[p1ngpong]

This is what happens to your retail chain when you stock underpowered hybrid handhelds with overpriced hardware and software like the Nintendo switch....

 

[RustInPeace]

I watched Power Rangers (2017) yesterday and I read how toys related to that movie did poorly in pretty much every country except the UK. I thought that meant UK TRU stores would stay up, but I guess not. That's just one portion of merchandise, but I interpreted it as a general thing. While I have the movie brought up, maybe TRU can be saved by the almighty God that is Krispy Kreme. There's a TRU across the mall, and way down the road from the mall is a Dunkin Donuts. So, KK can definitely buy that TRU location and you'd have those two stores kind of close to each other, like how McDs and BK are close to each other in this area too.

 

[shaunj66]

I have fond memories of my local Toys R Us. From playing video game display stands from the NES to the N64, queuing outside to be one of the first to get a tamagotchi when they were released in the UK, to riding the bikes up and down the corridors before being caught.

It will be a shame to see it close down but unfortunately this is what happens when you don't keep up with the times and become a relic of the past - which is very much what happened to my local store.

 

[Old]

A lot of good memories surrounding TrU, but I'm not a bit surprised at this news. It's so hard to compete with online retailers/availability, and the stores themselves have been headed downhill for years. The magic's long gone.
I always preferred KayBee, anyhow....

 

[Deleted User]

End of an era, just like movie stores. Australia generally lags with market so our Toys 'R Us Australia will probably close not too far as well.

 

[MajinCubyan]

Man, I remember when I was 12 years old, my dad bought me a GBA bundled with Pokemon Crystal from Toys 'R Us. That was the last time I went to one. Wonder if they plan on doing some restructuring and move mainly to a digital platform since people like to have things delivered to them. Or just its over.

@Old Man, I remember Kay Bee. That place was the bomb back in the day. Pretty sure that's where we got Sonic 2.

 

[Larsenv]

RIP Toys R Us, I heard about it shutting down.

I rarely went to their store, but it’s sad to see such a well-known retailer go.

 

[Old]

Man, I remember when I was 12 years old, my dad bought me a GBA bundled with Pokemon Crystal from Toys 'R Us. That was the last time I went to one. Wonder if they plan on doing some restructuring and move mainly to a digital platform since people like to have things delivered to them. Or just its over.

@Old Man, I remember Kay Bee. That place was the bomb back in the day. Pretty sure that's where we got Sonic 2.

Yeah man, Kay Bee had legendary clearance bins. A lot of their figures ended up in the '3-for-$5' crates.

As for TrU, they were MUCH cooler back in the day. As a little kid, it was mind blowing to see their parade of costumed characters at various store events. (These events seemed to dry up in the 80s, sigh.)
Now and then they'd have events for the little ones, often giving out free candy/cookies, balloons, etc. One WILD time when you're five years old!

TrU, in memorandum:

 

[osaka35]

i wonder who will buy the name, and what they'll do with it. online only toy store? who knows.

sad news, but looking forward to liquidation prices for stuff not shipped back to distributors

 

[RedoLane]

I guess you could say now...
Toys R Dead

 

[FAST6191]

maybe doesn't sounds good, like has stock clearance started yet?

We may all have different views on cheats, piracy and the coolness of p1ngpong's cat but it can safely be said we are all scavengers and vultures without shame.

Also the Australian arm says business as usual
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-15/toys-r-us-australia-says-it-is-business-as-usual/9552844
Some of the slightly older stories wondered what might happen but that is newer and with a comment from the Oz arm's management so I am going with that.

For those wanting to know some history and how it got to be where it was a few months ago I quite like the following

 

[goldensun87]

My main memory of TRU, was playing the video game demos. And I used to live in NYC. Unfortunately, I left NYC shortly before the TRU on 34th St. moved to the sure-to-have-become famous Times Square location. But honestly, after leaving NYC, I never stepped foot inside a TRU again, because outside the confines of NYC, lies the behemoth called Walmart. Almost everything you could buy at a TRU, you can buy at a Walmart, and usually for less (albeit usually only slightly less). Still, the slightly lower prices for toys, combined with the convenience of buying almost all other home goods, is enough to sway people. And, with in-store video game demos eventually dying out, combined with being able to acquire almost every type of digital media through the internet, I have almost no reason to step inside a Walmart either, so TRU is even more out of the question. I am totally not surprised that TRU is finally dying, in fact I am surprised that it took this long. Blockbuster officially died back in 2013, and now 5 years later, it is TRU's turn.

 

[Viri]

As a kid, I played a Virtual Boy at the one near by, and learned that I did not want one at all.

Sad to see it go, but I seen it coming.