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Thread: ToysRUs is Back in Australia with new owners

  1. #1
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    Default ToysRUs is Back in Australia with new owners

    https://www.toysrus.com.au/announcement-faq.html

    Seems Hobby Warehouse have got the TRU IP in Australia and NZ, with a new online store opening next week... will be curious to see what happens, especially for TFs as the Hobby Warehouse main site has old TR stuff but little newer than that.
    If they can nail down the specifics (none of those dumb random assortment things) and offer decent prices it'll be curious to see how it goes!

  2. #2
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    More info here.

    Be curious to see whether they'll offer the range of product and exclusives the stores did and what kind of pricing they'll have.

  3. #3
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    XMan is offline Rank 6 - Dedicated Member
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    Pretty good news, and I apologise for being negative but I can't help but think of of all the employee's that were let go.

    Especially in Canberra, I see a few now that have to do multiple jobs to get by, but a few have gained better employment, so that's cool.

    Great to see it's not going to be Geoffreys or whatever The States were thinking of replacing TRU with.

  4. #4
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    (edited topic title a little)
    Just noting that this is about an existing company in Australia who bought the rights to the name and logos from ToysRUs during the liquidation process (in which EVERYTHING was for sale, not just physical items), for use in Australia.
    They do note on their site that they have nothing to do with the previous ToysRUs business, which also means that they are not related with any ToysRUs business in other countries (they are all separate entities now as well).
    That being said, even though it is really early, and very little is so far known, I wouldn't be surprised if this new TRU business, or the multinational toy companies (like Hasbro & Mattel) try to get "global TRU exclusives" into this store just so that that stock gets released here (particularly if the Asian factories have been putting TRU exclusive stickers on the toys). In other words, we could see TRU exclusives at this business, but it doesn't mean TRU exclusives are guaranteed to appear here.
    We certainly have precedent for it here though, like having US Target exclusive Movie toys appear here at our Target stores with the Target exclusive stickers on them - our Target isn't related to their Target, but it makes it easier for Hasbro to pitch them to our Target... just look at how difficult it has been for them to offload existing TRU exclusives that they are still stuck with from last year's collapse.

  5. #5
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    And yes, it should be good news if long-term, they open up a national chain of stores, to give us collectors more options and competition... as we have been running out of (price-competing) stores willing to take the larger Transformers toys.

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    I’ve been to a downsized TRU located in a shopping centre in Singapore so I wonder if they’ll consider going down that path.

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    Sounds like it'll be a smaller boutique version, with these "experience centres" they're talking about.

    It almost sounds like customers go in see the physical products, handle them but order them online, mind you I'm speculating. Wonder if they'll need a visual merchandiser?

  8. #8
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    This is good news

    I am happy to see a familiar logo re-appear in the market. Hoping the new owners will carry a good range of Transformers, offer competitive pricing and try to get some Transformer exclusives

  9. #9
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    Hong Kong TRU have been testing out the "pop up store" model for a while, normally in conjunction with big displays for various franchises (including Transformers) as that tends to be the only way people there will make the effort to go to the obsure malls they tend to choose. It seems to have mixed success but doesn't do anywhere as well as their larger permanent stores.
    ToysRUs Asia also have ToysRUsExpress which would be the "mini" store Ralph might have seen in Singapore.

    I think the pop up store model might work here, however stock variety will be limited due to space/portability & storage. They might have to do some analytics on suburbs to figure out what toys will sell best in areas they decide to set up in if they truly want to target this as a successful model. A fixed store gives them a stronger foundation on which to no only offer a wider range of product but also run a "click and collect" model should they wish. It will be interesting to see how it pans out and evolves and whether it can reclaim the dominance the name once had with new owners.

  10. #10
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    Remember that when the old TRU was expanding in the year before their collapse, they were planning to set up small "express" stores, in the shells of the collapsed Masters stores. Maybe the new owners might be thinking about, as they would have made themselves aware of the entire history of the business before investing in the brand, as they would be burdened with its legacy even if it is a new entity.
    Then again, it the age of Amazon and all of the small collector-focused online toy stores, they may just stay as an online business and maybe have the odd event-based pop-up like mentioned by Bladestorm in HK.

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