Came across this piece of news
https://www.nst.com.my/business/2017...iling#cxrecs_s
Your take on this fellow forumers
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Came across this piece of news
https://www.nst.com.my/business/2017...iling#cxrecs_s
Your take on this fellow forumers
TRU in America seems to be a corporation that loves to use the bankruptcy laws to deal with their debts, as they've done this before... which lead to a restructure and closing down of some stores in America (and converting a lot of them to purely BabiesRUs stores, which was more profitable to them).
It shouldn't affect us here though, as our own success or failure will determine its future here.... as can be seen by the recent opening of several stores (and plans to open more at some of the old Masters Hardware locations), after almost 2 decades of stagnation and closing down of some stores here.
Their prices and product distribution polices are still outdated and work against them, but it seems that the current model is working "enough" for them to stick with it and be able to risk opening more stores.
It's silly how TRU only seem to focus on surviving rather than thriving.
Partial fault lies between bringing in toys for older kids such as adults is lacking. The range of toys are limited, and to me a toy store that sells toys needs to be bigger than average BigW etc....
I was in US 5 years ago and their Toyrus didn't feel big nor wowed me.
Very sad, we got a company going under, but we have crap business retailer not going under
Toys r us files for voluntary chapter 11 bankruptcy
http://news.tfw2005.com/2017/09/19/t...ons-u-s-349225
Amazon.com is killing them, and most other retail in the US. TRU's days in the US are numbered and they are one of many in the same situation.
When 64% of the US population has Amazon Prime which gives them free 2 day shipping on top of Amazon's low prices there's little chance for other retailers.
(disclaimer - I'm not an accountant, or have any training/qualifications on this)... but this shouldn't directly affect ToysRUs in other countries like here... and bankruptcy (protection) in America is something businesses over there appear to be able to do as a way to keep operating, because they believe they have profit potential beyond some short-term debts that are due soon. (even the billionaire Trump has had his businesses go through bankruptcy at least three times in the past, to deal with some debts, without losing everything).
I think we'd only need to worry if the US business goes into administration or have their creditors/investors find out that they have long term forecasts of zero profit potential, and petition to have the business sold off or shut down (if the debts outweigh its assets).
And even if that worst case scenario happens, I just couldn't imagine them shutting down their businesses in all those other countries they are in, who are obviously still profitable, or else the US business would have shut them down by now.
From the press release...
The downside though, is it will probably mean no more TRU exclusives from Hasbro during this time, as TRU are likely to trim down their inventory... and are prioritising their investor debts over their supplier debts (leading to some suppliers cutting back on sending new product until they pay for what they have already received - suppliers can often allow up to 90 days for payment, particularly for their bigger customers).Quote:
The Company’s operations outside of the U.S. and Canada, including its approximately 255 licensed stores and joint venture partnership in Asia, which are separate entities, are not part of the Chapter 11 filing and CCAA proceedings.
The Company’s approximately 1,600 Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us stores around the world – the vast majority of which are profitable – are continuing to operate as usual,
I think a wait-and-see approach is best for this situation... and my fingers are firmly crossed that this doesn't lead to a full collapse of the global franchise, because aside from their high prices, TRU here are the best at price-matching of all our toy retailers (and personally - the Ocean Terminal TRU in Hong Kong, is in my opinion, the best toy store in the world for current Transformers toys, and if it shut down, it would be a big loss on my future trips over there)
^ I never realised TRU licensed their name out for foreign companies to use. I wonder who owns the Australian stores?
It is hard to tell, but the bottom of the ToyRUs page has a link to ToysRUsInc (the American corporation that owns TRU and BRU), and its T&Cs mention that TRU Australia Pty Ltd uses the various trademarks "under license"... so I think that without any other business name being mentioned anywhere, it would probably be the US company who registered and set up the business here, like Hasbro Australia and other multinationals originally from America.
In other words, it is its own business entity here with Australian managers and employees, but most of the policies and procedures would come from America... and the profits flow back to there.
From what I can tell from here, TRU Singapore and Japan are licensed to 3rd party companies... and only about 20% of their international stores are licensed, so they must have direct control over most of them.
(it also notes that the US business is no longer a publicly listed company - a consortium spent US$6.6 Billion in 2005 to buy out the business from shareholders... and it is probably the repayment of this debt that has them in trouble, with them still owing half of it back to the banks)
Brick and mortar retailers cannot ever compete with online stores for price for obvious reasons. But there are still some things that real stores can offer that online stores can't. These include:
* Good personal customer service. When you shop online you're dealing with a machine, but when you shop IRL you're dealing with a human being. Simple things like giving a crap about your job and treating your customers well go a long way in making the shopping experience enjoyable. These are things that online stores can never match. Anyone who's ever been to Japan will know what a pleasure it is to shop there because the customer service is so top class. It makes you want to go back to that shop again. Simple things like talking with the customer - starting a quick conversation or having a sense of humour etc.
e.g. when I bought #1 of the Definitive G1 Collection from a newsagent, the guy who served me scanned the book and said in a deadpan tone of voice, "That'll be $30 million." and as I tapped my card I said, "Now to run away before my card gets declined!" and we both had a good chuckle. :D Just today I bought Wonder Woman on DVD and the lady serving me said that she noticed that this was a popular item and was wondering why - so we had a brief chat about why I think it's a good film which piqued her interest. Ya know... human interaction!
Just have some passion and pride in your work... (-_-)
https://image.ibb.co/i3PLEQ/temp.jpg
* Immediate sale (and ownership!). 2 day shipping may be 2 day shipping, but with real shopping I can own that toy immediately. Two days? Ain't nobody got time for that! :p Part of this also means ensuring that the stores have actual stock because obviously if they don't stock the toys we want then we have no other choice than to shop online. I will always choose real life shopping over online shopping when possible, but if I can't find that toy in stores or if I'm unsure if the toy will even show up locally, then I'll get it online. e.g. TR Seaspray and TLK Deluxe Sqweeks - both recent online purchases for me because I still haven't found them in stores. I want Deluxe Cogman too and I keep finding the One Step Changer.
https://image.ibb.co/fTNXuQ/temporary_2.jpg
* Ease of exchange/refund.
^ Amazon calls it 2 day shipping but in many cases you can receive your item is as little as a couple of hours. In a city like San Francisco, LA or New York where it's already inconvenient to go to a shopping centre a couple of hours for it to show up on your doorstep for free is a much better deal.
Also they have exchanges and refunds worked out. There are many customers that will buy say 3 pairs of shoes, figure out which one pair they actually want and return the other two because Amazon has made it so easy to do refunds and exchanges.
Amazon has put dozens of entire shopping centres in America out of business, TRU is just another victim.
Amazon Japan does the same thing, but they still have retail businesses because their brick and mortar stores are still offering something that online stores can never match - good quality customer service. The thing that sometimes irritates me about shopping in Australia is when I encounter poor or just apathetic customer service. Like when I speak with staff they are often abrupt and inhospitably dismissive. When you shop in Japan you're treated very well and it's a pleasurable experience that makes you want to shop again in the future.
Whatever. Don't care. Never got the nostalgia for Toys R Us other people have. They really have no one but their own arrogance to blame for this.
Considering the way I've been F'ed over by both the Aussie and US TRU online stores this news doesn't shock me - both their online sales practices and customer service is woeful to say the least. Chooks coming home to roost as far as I'm concerned.
Maybe if they actually listened to complaints and tried to rectify their practices so they didn't keep making the same idiotic mistakes, customers might not have flocked elsewhere :rolleyes:
This article has some interesting info and stats about the US ToysRUs.
- their remaining debt of US$5 billion had debt repayments of US$400 million per year.
- they generated US$11.5 billion in sales last year and their annual profits were increasing for the last three years, only just getting above the debt repayment amount in the last financial year with a profit of US$460 million.
- so why file for bankruptcy if they were heading in the right direction?... 40% of their suppliers stopped giving them credit, and started demanding payment on delivery, just before the Christmas period, which accounts for 40% of their annual sales.
- bankruptcy protection now allows TRU to buy more stock from the money that would have been used to pay their debts, allowing them to keep making profits that encourage other sources to invest to cover their debt (it seems that they already have US$3 Billion raised).
- the bigger toy companies like Hasbro, Mattel, and MGM need TRU so much that they will be providing more help with exclusives (and probably cheaper prices to improve their margins), which will also help reassure investors to help keep TRU alive.
- TRU in America accounts for 11% of Hasbro's sales and 9% of Mattel's sales, second only to Walmart, so they need TRU to survive or risk losing hundreds of millions in revenue.
- their debt agreements prevent it from shutting down stores in America, so people there shouldn't be worried about their nearest store disappearing at this time.
It should be noted that there are two forms of bankruptcy in America for companies. Chapter 11 and Chapter 7. Chapter 11 forces your creditors to renegotiate with you to keep you in business, but this doesn't always work and sometimes it goes to the next level. Chapter 7 is what we think of bankruptcy which is the company is gone, it comes after Chapter 11. Both Chapter 11 and 7 are bad, but 11 isn't as bad.
Since according to that article they are forced to not close stores under their current agreement I bet that is one thing they will change in their new agreement if Chapter 11 succeeds, which it doesn't always. If they can't close stores that would mean if there are a few store running at a huge loss dragging down their profits then they wouldn't be able to do the right business decision and shut them.
I still think retail is doomed.
Terrible news for workers at 180 TRU stores in America with 180 stores closing.
https://www.seibertron.com/transform...in-2018/40543/
On the bright side for US toy shoppers they are liquidating $200m in stock, so bargain time if you're in the US.
https://www.seibertron.com/transform...details/40545/
It's a lot of stores, but that still leaves about 89% open, which could have been necessary to offload sluggish stores to keep the other 1420 stores open.
I wonder if I've been to any of the ones that are closing... meh, it'll take too long to look it up. :p
The UK situation has deteriorated, to the point of entering Administration... which means that someone unrelated to the business comes in and sees if it is best to salvage the business or to see if it needs to be closed up and get as much of its debts paid off as possible.
Since their issue is unrelated to the US problem, this collapse is just coincidental timing, and shouldn't have any affect on ToysRUs branches in other countries (like ours or in Asian countries).
It's a shame about the UK branch. I've had (to me anyway) significant issues with the US and Aus branches but I have fond memories of the TRU's in the UK. I got my Reissue PM Prime & Hot Rod, RID(01) Bludgeon & Scourge as well as Armada Unicron from them when living there - fond memories indeed :)
Looks like the US ToysRUs situation took a turn for the worst, going from a rather safe position of bankruptcy protection, to having the lenders now pushing the business to liquidate all stores and assets just to get back what they are owed, because they can't find new lenders or purchasers.
The optimistic option was to close 20% of their stores and find new creditors to keep the debt active and paid off.... but on Monday (US time), there will be a bankruptcy hearing held, that could see the decision made by ToysRUs to completely dissolve their business.
If that happens, that would likely be the end of ToysRUs exclusives, even in other countries, as the US organises them, and then makes them available to ToysRUs entities in other countries.
And it sounds like ToysRUs in quite a few countries are struggling or on the verge of collapse, with the Canadian branch also in bankruptcy since last year, the UK branch closing quite a few stores, the European branch looking for a buyer, and apparently the Asian branch is already in the process of being bought out.
With ToysRUs in Australia actually in the process of expanding at the moment, we may end up being the last branch of that brand in the world.
As much as it would suck for customers I'm thinking more about the employees. That's going to be a lot of people having to look for a new job with little warning. Retail in America is dying rapidly unfortunately.
If it wasn't for their loan providers I think TRU would be in a much better state.
At least for us here in Australia most of retail is doing well with malls all over the country renovating to add more stores. Sure we get the headlines all the time of Jerry Harvey saying how online is killing him, but with more stores opening fairly regularly I think for the time being retail is doing well here.
I feel for the workers more than customers. It's crap.
Hopefully I get my Grotusque
Soon to be known as Toys Were Us. :p
Okay, this post is getting us off-topic, but they didn't "scrap" penalty rates... we still have penalty rates for weekends and after-hours on weekdays.
The Sunday rate was brought into line with Saturday, because we aren't a majority Christian country anymore (less than 11% attend church on a regular or irregular basis now)... and the higher rate was for businesses to pay employees more for missing their obligation to attend church services (when these higher Sunday rates were first brought in). Just like how businesses and retailers were not allowed to operate on Sundays... those archaic laws were drawn up by rather non-secular governments last century, and as trading hours on Sundays have been slowly relaxed to be close or equal to Saturday in various cities around the country, it was only a matter of time that the pay rates would reflect that change as well.
So there is no longer a logical reason why one day of the weekend is more important than the other, to have it paid more than the other.
After all, is it fair to have people doing a particular job on Saturday earn less than people doing the exact same job on Sunday.
Base rates need to be higher, not the penalty rates, or else you get a large chunk of society desperately dependant on the higher paid, odd-hour work just to be able to afford to raise a family that they now have to miss seeing most of the time working those shifts.
Higher Base rates and lower costs of living... should be the focus of politicians, not fighting over penalty rates (which are only a percentage of the base rate anyway, so if it doesn't go up, the penalty rate doesn't go up either).
TRU ain't dead yet... The hearing is postponed. Plus an update on TRU Canada.
https://www.seibertron.com/transform...-canada/40873/
And that's it folks, TRU in both the US and UK are closing down completely.
https://www.seibertron.com/transform...-stores/40888/
https://www.seibertron.com/transform...-the-uk/40886/
And most likely Australia as well.
http://www.news.com.au/finance/busin...57a5427cc81a20
It is sad... I've bought a lot of toys from TRU in America, and would feel worse if botcon was still happening. TRU was always a priority, with Walmart And Target when I was in America, and it would be a factor in deciding hotels when not at the convention. There is even one near the LA Airport that I had checked out several times before or after a flight, and once between two connecting flights (taxi there and back, with the driver waiting for me).
I think we'll miss the exclusives most though. There might not have been a lot, or cheap, but it was the store with the most despite Walmart and Amazon being bigger.
I wonder if future kids will ever experience that feeling of walking into a huge store filled with toys.
That is true... with the loss of Kaybee Toys 10-ish years ago, and now ToysRUs, American kids don't have a chain of stores that are exclusively toys anymore.
As bad as we might say ToysRUs and Toyworld are with their prices or product range, we still love to go to those stores because it is mostly just toys. A feeling you don't get with Target, BigW, Kmart or Walmart, no matter how big the store is.
One thing we need to be mindful of is in the liquidation of any company you have done business with, so TRU US and potentially AU for me in this case, there is the possibility of your customer data ending up in someone else's hands at which point they can use it however they want.
Fortunately TRU doesn't have any of our personal devices in its possession. In the recent bankruptcy auction of NCIX you can see people's personal computers that are being auctioned off. In a video that's behind a paywall we find out that the Nvidia Shield that Linus buys in the second video has the owners personal accounts still logged in and he could have charged the users credit card for content on the device or even stolen the owners accounts entirely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29LL3blOxds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDZfh5IjGv8
It seems that Toys R Us Australia aren't going anywhere soon, at least according to [their FB response.](https://www.facebook.com/toysrusau/p...type=3&theater)
It's terrible those people will lose jobs, but, frankly, from a consumer perspective? Good riddance to bad over prices rubbish.
It showed up in the media today. Two views
Business as usual
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-1...-usual/9552844
And good for Westfarmers
http://www.afr.com/business/retail/w...0180315-h0xid5
The big one I took from the AFR page.
"US chief executive, David Brandon, was quoted overnight saying the Australian operations and those in France, Spain and Poland were likely to go into liquidation."
What about those people that preordered the MP Cheetor repaint, they will likely never get the product they paid for.
Also read the update on Seibertron, Australia is specifically called out as being liquidated.
https://www.seibertron.com/transform...-update/40888/