The last shuddering gasp of Toys R Us Australia

[UltraMarginal]

In my email this morning, a final email.

60 - 80% off

All locations closing this weekend. If you want anything that's still remaining, it's time to get down, grab a sign or a shelf, because there's not much else left from what I've heard.

It's finally here, the end of Toys R us Australia. :(

[MayzaPrime]

In my email this morning, a final email.

60 - 80% off

All locations closing this weekend. If you want anything that's still remaining, it's time to get down, grab a sign or a shelf, because there's not much else left from what I've heard.

It's finally here, the end of Toys R us Australia. :(

I went to Majura Park Toys R Us in Canberra, it really was down to the dregs

[SuspectimusPrime]

If anyone is interested in fixtures now's the time.

From their newsletter:

https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/EFuhNVCAHzu1pm4K0CtwVl3MMsZKwTK8BXLFi9y7zRkAG7IEO8 t_dMHpcJIZI9_ASu02b4tqP_BrGjjJ6kdLeIrrb25xjcbCrc_h 5KKlLGzi=s0-d-e1-ft#http://img.toysrus.com.au/custloads/767614932/md_332121.jpg

[BruiseLee]

It was pretty much picked clean at Doncaster last weekend. Prob not much left unless they have shelves and banners left.

Bought a banner last weekend and they mentioned that i had to remove it myself. I was cool with that and asked to borrow a ladder but they said they sold them all! :rolleyes:

They did help get it down for me though :)

[Ralph Wiggum]

Is there still Star Wars stuff shelfwarming?

[Maruten]

I was in Belconnen a couple of days ago and there was a surprising amount of SW stuff. Even with these discounts people still don't want that Black Series Ackbar two-pack apparently.

[FruitBuyer]

It was pretty much picked clean at Doncaster last weekend. Prob not much left unless they have shelves and banners left.

Bought a banner last weekend and they mentioned that i had to remove it myself. I was cool with that and asked to borrow a ladder but they said they sold them all! :rolleyes:

They did help get it down for me though :)

Were the Barricades finally gone?

[shockNwave]

I was in Belconnen a couple of days ago and there was a surprising amount of SW stuff. Even with these discounts people still don't want that Black Series Ackbar two-pack apparently.

At TRU Chadstone, the Star Wars stuff was also sticking out like a sore thumb.

[Handsprime]

Is there still Star Wars stuff shelfwarming?

Parramatta was pretty much that. No transformers in sight

[Galvatran]

It was pretty much picked clean at Doncaster last weekend. Prob not much left unless they have shelves and banners left.

Bought a banner last weekend and they mentioned that i had to remove it myself. I was cool with that and asked to borrow a ladder but they said they sold them all! :rolleyes:

They did help get it down for me though :)
LMAO. That was well thought out by TRU.

[griffin]

Popped in today and saw that the baskets were half price at $3.50... and they said that it was too difficult to scratch/remove the logo from them, so sold them intact.

A nice little souvenir, and will be very useful at home when pulling out toys to play with, or putting away the pile of toys that constantly grows on my kitchen bench.


On the TRU website (http://www.toysrus.com.au/stores/), different stores are closing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.


The store that I went to today had a lot of their non-toy items at the front of the store, including price scanners, boxes of shelf pegs, posting padded satchels, and security tags... plus price tags on all of the shelving.

[Omega Metro]

Still a good selection of Star Wars, Marvel, Ninjago Minifigures, Pokémon and The Last Knight deluxe Berserkers at TRU Cannington.

[The Ghost]

Still a good selection of Star Wars, Marvel, Ninjago Minifigures, Pokémon and The Last Knight deluxe Berserkers at TRU Cannington.

ftfy :D

[DarkHyren]

Parramatta had all the toys that are left at the front of the store across two sets of shelves, there isn't much left at all, mostly StarWars stuff nobody wants.

[miles_prower]

Finally got my basket from TRU Garden City, third time was the charm, they're selling everything, except for the impact poster stand, which would be great to have, but they are selling fixtures, toys are extremely scarce, no TF's but still some star wars there.

[BruiseLee]

Were the Barricades finally gone?

Yeah, unless they find the one that went into an empty box. I did find one last weekend in one of those toy stacking trolleys. It was also open but all contents were in there and still tied down so that came home with me. Maybe they find things under shelves and stuff.

[Galvatran]

Finally got my basket from TRU Garden City, third time was the charm, they're selling everything, except for the impact poster stand, which would be great to have, but they are selling fixtures, toys are extremely scarce, no TF's but still some star wars there.
About a week ago TRU Highpoint had the Impact Poster Stand on hold for someone who paid & needed to pick it up.

[griffin]

While I was at the register today to pay for my basket, a women was arguing with the staff for several minutes about a pram she bought at half price, was missing an accessory, and she wanted her money back... despite a lot of signage in the last month or so saying that there were no returns if a product isn't faulty (which this wasn't, as it was only missing a detachable accessory). She was even told that she could make potentially double her money if she sold it off, as it was meant to be a very popular brand.
I could seen another staff member (unrelated to this matter) had appeared to have recently been overcome emotionally... considering how empty the store was now, and that she probably had to find a new job (she wasn't young, so might have been with the business for a while, and her age would make it harder for her to get a new job, especially in retail where her experience lies), but here we had a self-centred customer, complaining for ages about a small "accessory" missing from an item that she had saved hundreds of dollars on.
:rolleyes:

[hYpNoS]

While I was at the register today to pay for my basket, a women was arguing with the staff for several minutes about a pram she bought at half price, was missing an accessory, and she wanted her money back... despite a lot of signage in the last month or so saying that there were no returns if a product isn't faulty (which this wasn't, as it was only missing a detachable accessory). She was even told that she could make potentially double her money if she sold it off, as it was meant to be a very popular brand.
I could seen another staff member (unrelated to this matter) had appeared to have recently been overcome emotionally... considering how empty the store was now, and that she probably had to find a new job (she wasn't young, so might have been with the business for a while, and her age would make it harder for her to get a new job, especially in retail where her experience lies), but here we had a self-centred customer, complaining for ages about a small "accessory" missing from an item that she had saved hundreds of dollars on.
:rolleyes:

As a retail worker I see this behavior all too often, "its all about me, the customer, I don't care about your feelings, situation, limitations, I want what I want and I'm gonna make a scene until either I get what I want or the cops are called", and its not limited to just "customers",I've seen fast food managers in uniform obliterating super market workers, you either cave or you better have some real backbone.

I hope somewhere out there offers a bit of hope for that particular worker, I actually know the difficulties of getting and holding a job past the age of 21.

[CHILENO20]

As a retail worker I see this behavior all too often, "its all about me, the customer, I don't care about your feelings, situation, limitations, I want what I want and I'm gonna make a scene until either I get what I want or the cops are called", and its not limited to just "customers",I've seen fast food managers in uniform obliterating super market workers, you either cave or you better have some real backbone.

Know this is issue quite well myself. I hate dealing with self-indulgent & egocentrical people :mad:

Went by Highpoint TRU for the last time the other night and my partner got a little misty eyed as she was remembering when she was kid a funny memory about her sister there. I made it a point to tell all the staff that served me that I wished them all the best and luck with future work and endevours.

On a side note, does anyone else remember what the store used to be before TRU took the space (if its not a stand alone store that is). There used to be a department store called Venture back in the day.

[Paulbot]

I don't know Highpoint, but I have fond memories of buying Transformers at Venture at Parkmore and Waverley Gardens shopping centres.

[SuspectimusPrime]

Parramatta had all the toys that are left at the front of the store across two sets of shelves, there isn't much left at all, mostly StarWars stuff nobody wants.

Dropped by Parra TRU last night. It was sad seeing the store sectioned off to about 5x6m of shelf warmers and trash.


Went by Highpoint TRU for the last time the other night and my partner got a little misty eyed as she was remembering when she was kid a funny memory about her sister there. I made it a point to tell all the staff that served me that I wished them all the best and luck with future work and endevours.

As a year 7-8 kid I remembered going to Parra TRU after school and really wanting to buy both BW Rhinox and Wolfang, but only had enough birthday money to buy one. I bought Rhinox and hid Wolfang in a different area (think it was RC cars) I thought nobody (customers or the sluggish TRU staff that paid no attention to me) would check to buy myself enough time to save up for it.

For the next two weeks I'd check back every second day after school until I had the $18 I needed for the BW Deluxe at RRP. It was quite stressful at the time because I could see a couple of other figs on the shelf disappearing each day, and also because I didn't tell my friends or family since a high schooler playing with toys seemed sociably unacceptable. Ran to TRU on the last day of saving my lunch money and was so relieved it was still there. For a long time it was my second fav Deluxe after Cheetor.

[UltraMarginal]

That's an awesome story Suspectimus

[Trent]

Swung by Shellharbour today and it is the same as others. Everything has been moved to the front entry section of the store. A plethora of Star Wars and Marvel Legends stuff and Ninjago/Batman minifigs standing out among a random assortment of cheap toys no one wants. If you were in the market for a cot though some stupid mark downs, like from $700 down to $200. There were plenty of people taking advantage of that. In fact, I’d say that the Baby side of it was what was getting people in there and they were just picking up a cheap toy for their kids while they were there.

I bought a bunch of Ninjago minifigs for my son at 60% off.

I can’t see that store even being viable for the weekend. It’d cost more to pay the employees for the weekend then they would recover as they are selling at a major loss now.

Thus marks my final visit to the once mighty Toys R Us.

[Galvatran]

To be fair unless explicitly notified of the missing accessory prior to sale, I would deem it as refundable as it is not fit for purpose. What she paid is irrelevant.

How she went about it is unacceptable.


While I was at the register today to pay for my basket, a women was arguing with the staff for several minutes about a pram she bought at half price, was missing an accessory, and she wanted her money back... despite a lot of signage in the last month or so saying that there were no returns if a product isn't faulty (which this wasn't, as it was only missing a detachable accessory). She was even told that she could make potentially double her money if she sold it off, as it was meant to be a very popular brand.
I could seen another staff member (unrelated to this matter) had appeared to have recently been overcome emotionally... considering how empty the store was now, and that she probably had to find a new job (she wasn't young, so might have been with the business for a while, and her age would make it harder for her to get a new job, especially in retail where her experience lies), but here we had a self-centred customer, complaining for ages about a small "accessory" missing from an item that she had saved hundreds of dollars on.
:rolleyes:

[Ralph Wiggum]

There’s a lot we don’t know about this story, but I wouldn’t put it past people to get a refund then re-buy the item at further discount.

[Deonasis]

ONce a store is with administrators their goal is to sell everything. There are many consumer rights (like warranties and returns) they can no longer cover. You can contact the administrator about faulty stuff but you are now an unsecured creditor and would be the absolute last person to get money back. Hence the not honoring gift cards, no returns signs all over the shops.

[griffin]

That was the point here - it was sold in the last few days, well after the signage went up that everything was now being sold "as is" (the customer should look over the product first before deciding to buy it at the discounted price), and only faulty items could be returned. We do that all the time at our furniture company, selling dented & scratched items very cheap "as is", with no returns or refunds, because it is up to the customer to see if it is worth the new cheaper price, and be stuck with it if find something else wrong with it later (that isn't significant damage, which we don't re-sell).

This Pram was only missing a non-vital accessory, that didn't affect the integrity or safety of the Pram, and the item was probably worth a few dollars of the several hundred dollars she saved when she bought it at half price.
I just thought it was over excessive of this lady, making a big fuss when she didn't take the time to check over the item before grabbing it at a huge (greedy) bargain... while employees there were now out of a job, and wouldn't be in the position of splashing out money like this for a while.

[Paulbot]

All stock 70-80% off now according to the email I just got.

Can’t imagine there’s much left anywhere though.

[M-bot]

TRU Fountain Gate now closed.

[Other]

TRU Frankston was on it's last day today and was well and truly picked clean, there wasn't much left beyond the shelving. Even almost all of the Star Wars stuff that hadn't moved the previous weeks was gone.

[griffin]

Garden City is now closed.


This was the final 30 minutes....
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/e908.jpg


And at 10 to 5pm, it was all closed up and empty...
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/e907.jpg
http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/e906.jpg


25 years... there were good times, and bad times... and I think we will miss it more than we will miss how much of a pain in the butt it was to sometimes get hold of their exclusives or certain items at a decent price.
At least I'll have this to remember them by...

http://www.toycollectors.com.au/blog/e909.jpg

[Ralph Wiggum]

Toys R Us Cannington closes today. Store has practically been stripped bare of toys. No Marvel, Lego...all gone. Only thing left of “worth” was a bunch of Finn, Rose, Hux and Paige The Last Jedi figures...and even they were disappearing fast.

For what its worth I got a Rose, Paige and Force Link accessory (with Kylo Ren). My wife got five various posters to stick up in the classroom.

Saw a staff member taking a panorama of the store, looked like she was on the verge of tears which was just heartbreaking to see. Wished the cashier all the best then that was it...

Vale Toys R Us.

[Omega Metro]

Toys R Us Cannington closes today. Store has practically been stripped bare of toys. No Marvel, Lego...all gone. Only thing left of “worth” was a bunch of Finn, Rose, Hux and Paige The Last Jedi figures...and even they were disappearing fast.

For what its worth I got a Rose, Paige and Force Link accessory (with Kylo Ren). My wife got five various posters to stick up in the classroom.

Saw a staff member taking a panorama of the store, looked like she was on the verge of tears which was just heartbreaking to see. Wished the cashier all the best then that was it...

Vale Toys R Us.

Yes it’s very sad as Cannington was my local store. Went there yesterday and spent up on some Star Wars stuff and $3.50 Brickheadz for parts. I’d probably shed a tear myself if I went there today so avoided it. :(

[Galvatran]

80% off & more. Today only (last day).

[The Ghost]

Toys R Us Cannington closes today. Store has practically been stripped bare of toys. No Marvel, Lego...all gone. Only thing left of “worth” was a bunch of Finn, Rose, Hux and Paige The Last Jedi figures...and even they were disappearing fast.

For what its worth I got a Rose, Paige and Force Link accessory (with Kylo Ren). My wife got five various posters to stick up in the classroom.

Saw a staff member taking a panorama of the store, looked like she was on the verge of tears which was just heartbreaking to see. Wished the cashier all the best then that was it...

Vale Toys R Us.

The next Nexus will be interesting. I suspect we'll see a few things that have glutted TRU over it's last weeks being sold at Nexus for the next 5 years.

It's been sad to see people pick it apart. As annoying as it's been to walk in and out of the store for however many years due to big droughts between new stock, it played it's part in my own collection.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Had to laugh when checking out Toyworlds website their big banner on the home page saying ‘We’re Open For Business!’ :p

Betting all the other toy shops aren’t lamenting TRU’s demise either

[Jellico]

Toyworld on Kessels Road has been advertising itself as Australia's number one toy store for weeks.


I have to say that I don't have much emotional attachment to Toys r Us. Growing up in more rural areas it was the American interloper that put the toy stores of my childhood out of business.

Good luck to the staff and I hope they find new employment.

[ChlorHex]

The next Nexus will be interesting. I suspect we'll see a few things that have glutted TRU over it's last weeks being sold at Nexus for the next 5 years.

It's been sad to see people pick it apart. As annoying as it's been to walk in and out of the store for however many years due to big droughts between new stock, it played it's part in my own collection.
Yeah... we'll definitely be seeing loads of Marvel Legends, Star Wars, at Nexus... the sad thing was hearing from the staff at Cannington there were quite a few shoplifters who took this opportunity to pick on a lot of merchandise.
Even plucking off heads for Spiderman toys that were packaged open with wire ties.
Like what on earth do you gain out of that?
Those toys couldn't be sold for what they should as they're considered damaged as a result.
They had to employ store security as a result of some shoplifters who'll come back daily at very specific times... like what the heck?

[hYpNoS]

Yeah... we'll definitely be seeing loads of Marvel Legends, Star Wars, at Nexus... the sad thing was hearing from the staff at Cannington there were quite a few shoplifters who took this opportunity to pick on a lot of merchandise.
Even plucking off heads for Spiderman toys that were packaged open with wire ties.
Like what on earth do you gain out of that?
Those toys couldn't be sold for what they should as they're considered damaged as a result.
They had to employ store security as a result of some shoplifters who'll come back daily at very specific times... like what the heck?

Was happening in some of the western vic stores as well (the shop lifters).

I can understand whole figures but some cases left me scratching my head, what was there to gain out of it, as some sort of sick trophy, to kick a dying company as it lays down, before I used to pass off such things as cheap parents/destructive kids but it became quite noticeable, but maybe its because I work in retail and I can spot evidence of vandalism/shop lifting a mile away -_-

[Trent]

And that’s it people. Today marks the first day of an Australia without Toys R Us.

While like Jellico, I personally don’t have much attachment to TRU, it is a little sad that I won’t be able to take my son there anymore. At least we have a Toyworld around here but nothing matched TRU for the sheer size and variety of toys.

[Omega Metro]

And that’s it people. Today marks the first day of an Australia without Toys R Us.

While like Jellico, I personally don’t have much attachment to TRU, it is a little sad that I won’t be able to take my son there anymore. At least we have a Toyworld around here but nothing matched TRU for the sheer size and variety of toys.

To be honest, I only went to/bought from TRU mostly for their Lego when it was on sale. Rarely ever bought Transformers from there. And couldn’t care less about Toyworld as they are always full priced and none near me anyway. On the bright side, I’m getting a new David Jones opening up at Carousel soon so hopefully they have a decent toy/Lego section.:)

[Galvatran]

I wonder what happened to those few Movie Prime statues instore?

[zzyss]

The one thing is what will happen to TRU exclusives, of which there have been many: https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Toys%22R%22Us

Notably Hasbro Masterpieces

[Trent]

To be honest, I only went to/bought from TRU mostly for their Lego when it was on sale. Rarely ever bought Transformers from there. And couldn’t care less about Toyworld as they are always full priced and none near me anyway. On the bright side, I’m getting a new David Jones opening up at Carousel soon so hopefully they have a decent toy/Lego section.:)

Same. 95% of my TrU purchases were Lego. Shellharbour has a pretty big range and their price matching policy meant I never paid their full price.

My local Toyworld has tried to market themselves as a Lego specialist. They will order you in sets if they can, have a waiting list for popular items and are pretty damn helpful. Unfortunately they only price match as an event. So while Toyworld is closer, I think my nearest Big W will get most of my in store purchases from now on. I’m currently waiting for Voltron to show up there.

[Galvatran]

TRU Highpoint (VIC) store still hasn't been replaced. It's a watch this space.

Has other TRU store locations been replaced yet? If so, what?

[Omega Metro]

TRU Highpoint (VIC) store still hasn't been replaced. It's a watch this space.

Has other TRU store locations been replaced yet? If so, what?

Drove past Cannington yesterday and the signs are still up and shopping trolleys are still by the windows.