Toys R Us closing all its U.S. locations

[laura silverman]

A part of my childhood just died today...

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bu ... 426292002/

[ChenChong91]

I wonder what will happen to their Singapore outlet...

[laura silverman]

I wonder what will happen to their Singapore outlet...

Well, they're closing all their stores in the UK too so I imagine that Singapore outlet is a goner.

[ChenChong91]

Oh dear... this is bad news! The good news is that video game stores are still opened in Singapore.

[TheVampirePrincess]

I've never even been to Toys R Us as a child, we used to get toys from stores like Walmart & Target. At least those, along with Frys Electronics are still open.

[laura silverman]

Oh dear... this is bad news! The good news is that video game stores are still opened in Singapore.

Good news, CC! It looks like the Fung Group, based out of Hong Kong, might take over the Asia operation and buy the 400 Toys R Us locations in the region. Seems the Asia market is the the only area where the toy company has seen any growth. So, your Singapore store might be saved after all!

https://www.bloombergquint.com/business ... al-partner

[chris601]

Like Blockbuster I'm sad to see it go.

[Mattf1980]

they're also closing all their uk stores as well while i'm sad to see this happened but i can say honestly i won't miss them since i barely got toys and video games and ect from them growing up in Pittsburgh in my childhood because their toys and video games and ect were so overprice and almost all the time my toys r us never had what i wanted.also i had two other toy store chains around me in a Children's Place and KB toys so i always got my toys and video games and ect from one of them.

[TheVampirePrincess]

they're also closing all their uk stores as well while i'm sad to see this happened but i can say honestly i won't miss them since i barely got toys and video games and ect from them growing up in Pittsburgh in my childhood because their toys and video games and ect were so overprice and almost all the time my toys r us never had what i wanted.also i had two other toy store chains around me in a Children's Place and KB toys so i always got my toys and video games and ect from one of them.

same here. I’d usually get toys & games from stores like Walmart, Target, & Ross.

[ChenChong91]

Yeah... it seems Toys R US is still operating in Singapore... I saw it at Westgate mall when I signed up for course 2 or 3 weeks ago.

[mailbagfan]

There's speculation that this could change the makeup of the toy industry. TRU was the last, big dedicated toy store. Walmart and Target have never boasted the breadth of product that TRU and other dedicated toy stores had. Smaller toy companies will especially be impacted by these stores closing, and some people even think this could lead to a merger of Hasbro and Mattel. Here's to hoping our favorite toy companies can pull through this...

[TheVampirePrincess]

Nowadays, we get toys from sites like Amazon.

[laura silverman]

Nowadays, we get toys from sites like Amazon.

That's fine for adults but it's just not as much fun if you're a kid. Nothing is going to replace the magic of going to a store totally dedicated to toys and being able to see and touch such an immense selection of toys. There's still LEGO stores I suppose but they're rather on the smallish side and if you don't like LEGOs, it's tough luck.

[ChenChong91]

Indeed... Physical stores exist for a reason... To serve its customers the best way they could. Online stores are risky since the toys you ordered could be damaged while being transported or delivered.

[mailbagfan]

Another problem with Amazon is they do a terrible job delineating first- and second-hand product, not to mention the numerous duplicate listings that clog their database. They also mark up certain items even more than Toys 'R' Us, and they pull the whole "add-on" and "Prime exclusive" shenanigans with certain products. That's all before you even get into their wildly inconsistent and occassionally laughable shipping and handling. Shopping at Amazon is just no where near as user friendly as shopping at a place like Toys 'R' Us.

If I didn't have a Prime subscription and a steady stream of free Amazon gift card codes, I wouldn't bother with them. And as ChengChong91 said, god forbid if you want to use Amazon to build a MOC collection. I've gotten so many bent and otherwise abused cardbacks. It's a good thing I'm not into diplaying figures in their packaging...