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Thread: Toys 'R' Us Australia goes into administration

  1. #61
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    27th Jan 2008
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    And their latest news is that they can't supply shadow panther due to 'insufficient stock' because Hasbro won't provide without settling their bill.
    But don't' worry, they will pass your details on as a creditor to the liquidator. How thoughtful for their loyal customers.
    On the lookout for MISB Headmaster Highbrow, Takara or Hasbro. I'm sure I could make you a sweet deal!

  2. #62
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    One of the options they suggested was to arrange a chargeback through your bank. At least a lot of us have some experience in that process now, so this should be a breeze.

  3. #63
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    10th May 2013
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    Received successful notification of my dispute to the TRU charge.

    Now, by dumb luck, our credit card was compromised yesterday so I'll have to wait until the new cards are issued to be sorted, but its certainly good service from CBA.

  4. #64
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    24th May 2007
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    From the Toy And Hobby Retailer Magazine is an update on the Australian ToysRUs situation, following the first of two meetings by the creditors, with the option of complete liquidation of the business still a strong possibility (either by the Administrators, or selling the business to a company that just wants to break it up and sell it all off).


    At the first creditors meeting of Toy R Us (TRU) Australia, McGrathNicol administrators revealed that there are 30 interested parties looking at the business.

    Jason Preston, administrator, said that the interested groups have a range of intentions, from buying the business to liquidating it. The interested parties have signed non disclosure agreements and are from both Australia and oversees.

    It was also revealed that TRU Australia currently has $60 million of inventory; fixed assets of $16 million; trade, employee and other creditors owed $3 million (each category); and, a whopping $90 million owed to inter-company creditors. The global group has not reported an annual profit since 2013, according to reports.

    The administrators said that they were likely to apply for an extension of two to three months to the convening period, allowing the interested parties time to mull over the information and put in offers.

    Creditors will vote at the second meeting to decide whether a sale of the business will occur or if a liquidation process should begin, based on the findings and offers the administrators receive.

    A committee of inspection (COI) was formed at the meeting, which allows voluntary creditors to represent the interests of all involved creditors. The COI advises and assists the administrators and can request information from them. The TRU COI is made up of: representatives from Wilmington National Trust; employee representatives Scott Toner and Sally-Anne Barbara; and, landlord representatives Scentre Group and Supacenta.

    McGrathNicol has approached all the previously interested parties about the new sales process.

    Meanwhile, in Canada, Fairfax Financial secured the TRU and BRU operations in the region as the sales process closed. The company is now entirely Canadian-owned and operated.

    “...We are thrilled to be part of the Fairfax family and to now operate as a reinvigorated company that is 100 per cent Canadian. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our customers for their loyalty and for choosing to shop at Toys R Us and Babies R Us,” Melanie Teed-Murch, president of TRU Canada said.

    The existing stores will adopt a similar format to the newly opened Canadian stores, which includes designated play areas, interactive stations and mobile-pay.

    In the US, the TRU head office began its liquidation sale with a large Geoffrey the Giraffe, a giant Minion and a life-sized Sulley from Monsters Inc. included in the sale alongside office furniture, meeting room and theatre equipment.

    The employees are still battling for severance, meeting in New Jersey to lobby lawmakers to make a change.

    “This is Wall Street greed. How can they walk away with millions and leave 33,000 workers with zero?” Tracy Auerbach, a 31-year employee of TRU said in May.

    “The system is rigged when it puts short sighted corporate interest over long term community interest. The system is rigged when good honest work sees only punishment and cynical financial gamesmanship sees all of the reward,” US Senator Cory Booker said.

    All US TRU stores are expected to close by 30 June.

    Unfortunately the current financial position of TRU (having more debt than assets, and no annual profit since 2013) will make it hard to entice a business to want to buy it up to keep it operating. The easiest thing would be to just sell off all the assets (with a lot being sold quickly for less than their full value, so they wouldn't get the full $76 million of the assets value), and if creditors only end up getting back about 60 cents for each dollar owed, there won't be any money for other "debts" like refunds for pre-orders (if you aren't able to get your bank to get your money back).

  5. #65
    Galvatran Guest

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    $60 million in inventory. Must be valued at TRU's RRP.

    (BTW I've written off @ $5 in store credit on my VIP card. That equates to roughly a handful of Lego pieces of the Death Star)

  6. #66
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    Quote Originally Posted by Galvatran View Post
    $60 million in inventory. Must be valued at TRU's RRP.

    (BTW I've written off @ $5 in store credit on my VIP card. That equates to roughly a handful of Lego pieces of the Death Star)
    Well at 4016 pieces at $799 RRP, that's 25 pieces right there for that store credit.

  7. #67
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    Well then... I guess that's that.


    Eagerly waiting for Masterpiece Meister

  8. #68
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    4th Aug 2008
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    End of an era

  9. #69
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    24th May 2007
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    That'll be the end of Japanese and Asian imports... and probably most of the American exclusives too, as none of the other major toy carriers take too many exclusives, if at all, and when they tried to get Myer to be a source of collector exclusives a couple years ago, it failed terribly.


    I don't think we had any any of those special midnight launches or promo events up here in Brisbane, but I think the people in Sydney and Melbourne will miss them.


    The thing I will miss most is their really relaxed price-matching policy. I don't think I ever had a request rejected, and they never rang up the competitor's store to verify if they had the item in stock.

  10. #70
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    Quote Originally Posted by griffin View Post
    That'll be the end of Japanese and Asian imports... and probably most of the American exclusives too, as none of the other major toy carriers take too many exclusives, if at all, and when they tried to get Myer to be a source of collector exclusives a couple years ago, it failed terribly.


    I don't think we had any any of those special midnight launches or promo events up here in Brisbane, but I think the people in Sydney and Melbourne will miss them.


    The thing I will miss most is their really relaxed price-matching policy. I don't think I ever had a request rejected, and they never rang up the competitor's store to verify if they had the item in stock.
    Myer was a disaster with the exclusives. Jacked up prices 1.5 to 2 times what they should have been, whether Myer set them or Hasbro, was just a horrible ordeal.

    I'm not sure why Hasbro doesn't sell directly to the public here. Takara do it with TTmall, and in the US with Hasbro Toy Shop, though technically its own shop. I know nothing about economics and distribution, but it would alleviate a lot of people's concerns over limited online retailers with official product, help them get rid of a lot of that stock that they have but can't get to anybody (Ramhorn ), and avoid otherwise expensive shipping costs, since they are (I presume) from a warehouse in the country. An avenue for exclusives too, without the middleman.

    A bit of a sad time.
    Seeking the Following:
    - CW Brawl
    - Earthrise Runabout
    - Earthrise Thrust

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