Interesting article...could it have something to do with these steep discounts on lego?  Get rid of stock to either juice the financial report or help during bankruptcy?

 

http://qz.com/148668/this-christmas-could-be-make-or-break-for-toys-r-us/

 

Called it. (http://community.brickpicker.com/topic/6794-daily-lego-deals-11202013/?p=187855)

 

These sentences from the article are the bottom line really.  If they close, it will be that much harder for us to find discounted exclusive items.  Remember, LEGO is NOT the only thing TRU sells

The toy business is incredibly seasonal. More than 40% of Toys

The bond rating was downgraded back in June. Cash flow to pay their debt should not be an issue, however, they might downsize after the holiday.

I'm not surprised. Most of the stuff you can get in Toy's R Us can be purchased on ebay/Amazon for considerably less and thats without picking it up. I'll be sad if it does go under though as it was my favourite shop as a kid. We didn't have a local one, so going there when I was young was a bit like Christmas coming early.

Interesting - with Target and Walmart having very good toy sections at much better prices for brick and mortar shoppers, and lots of online options, I'm surprised they lasted this long.

I would hate it if they do go under - mostly because I love finding ways to get around their dumbass pricing schemes.

 

The one thing I will say - My TRU is packed, all the time. They sell a lot. So this isn't Kmart, or at least not where I am.

I would hate it if they do go under - mostly because I love finding ways to get around their dumbass pricing schemes.

 

The one thing I will say - My TRU is packed, all the time. They sell a lot. So this isn't Kmart, or at least not where I am.

 

It differs from store to store.  I have 4 TRUs within 30 minutes drive.  The ones close to affluent neighborhoods are alaways packed (especially near holidays) whereas the ones near lower income neighborhoods are great for shopping 

Anyone remember KB Toys? I am not an expert by any stretch, but the one common theme to me between KB and TRU is Bain. Never had any intention of helping them to succeed. Capitalism at its finest. Greedy bastards. I mention this all the time to the managers at my store. Of course, they all had no idea.

Bain = Mitt Romney

Bain = Mitt Romney

I wasn't going to say it.....lol

The stupid got thick in here fast.  Greedy capitalist bastards!   Now where are those coupons so I can go get 4 more architectural studios.  That's the problem with you folks...you forget there is always someone  poorer than you, when you rant against the rich and successful.  I can take you into some areas of providence  or Boston where you are the greedy bastard running around trying  to corner the lego architectural studio market.  You'll get your teeth knocked in if they see you walking down the street with $400 in legos.  Even if you carry a Romney/Bain sucks sign. 

 

Still can't believe so many find this site, and complain about capitalism and rich people.  Most of us here respect the successful, and want to join them...not despise them.  Greed and  jealousy are close cousins.  Are you a better person because you don't use lbo to load companies with debt, try to ipo them after a turn around, or break them out to creditors?  You are working harder than Romney? By buying up lego sets before Christmas, so parents need to get their gifts from you at huge  mark ups instead of the store for retail price?  Are you more noble than venture capital, than private equity?

 

Take your jealousy elsewhere please.  We are all greedy here, and  want to make the most money for the least amount  of work/risk.

Willy<-greedy and wants to be like Romney 

 

Private equity bought kb fao, and tru for a reason.  They were for sale.  Why..because they were going bankrupt ANYWAY!

 

And the stupid comes out when you bring up Romney's name. He left Bain ****** 2001.  Bain was EQUAL partners with kkr and vornado when they bought these 3 stores...   In 2005. 

The stupid got thick in here fast.  Greedy capitalist bastards!   Now where are those coupons so I can go get 4 more architectural studios.  That's the problem with you folks...you forget there is always someone  poorer than you, when you rant against the rich and successful.  I can take you into some areas of providence  or Boston where you are the greedy bastard running around trying  to corner the lego architectural studio market.  You'll get your teeth knocked in if they see you walking down the street with $400 in legos.  Even if you carry a Romney/Bain sucks sign. 

 

Still can't believe so many find this site, and complain about capitalism and rich people.  Most of us here respect the successful, and want to join them...not despise them.  Greed and  jealousy are close cousins.  Are you a better person because you don't use lbo to load companies with debt, try to ipo them after a turn around, or break them out to creditors?  You are working harder than Romney? By buying up lego sets before Christmas, so parents need to get their gifts from you at huge  mark ups instead of the store for retail price?  Are you more noble than venture capital, than private equity?

 

Take your jealousy elsewhere please.  We are all greedy here, and  want to make the most money for the least amount  of work/risk.

Willy<-greedy and wants to be like Romney 

 

Thank you.  Couldn't agree more.  People need to quit name-calling in general and especially quit calling people greedy, especially on an investment site.

 

Poor, uncreative, incompetent people (or people trying to push an agenda) are the ones who sit around calling others greedy.

Woah. Woah. Woah.

 

Is greed good? Absolutely. (see the original Wall Street)  Maybe you misinterpreted my statement. Without going in to a lot of detail, it is OVERLY greedy to loan someone money knowing dang full well they will never be able to pay it back. Kind of like PayDay loans. Kind of like the mortgage crisis. But I guess that is all okay, because they do it all under the name of Capitalism.

 

Jealous? Of what? Of purposely ripping off a company so that they go under? Nah. Not me. I love capitalism. I must have missed all these previous posts where people complain about it and the rich people. Do I want to be rich? Sure. Would I sell out an entire company to do so? Hell no. I am more than aware of the less fortunate. I live right next to the meth capital of California. See it all the time. Your comment makes no sense. So because there will always be people who are better off, that entitles them to screw the next guy? WOW.

 

Glad to know there are still people out there willing to bury their ethics in the name of profit. I am not going to drag this on, but I stand by my statement: greedy bastards, with more emphasis on the second word.

If you have a mortgage, your leverage is astronomically higher than those guys in private equity.  If you lose your job and run out of cash, you'll go bankrupt just like a company cannot meet their loan obligation.  Payday loans and mortgage crisis have nothing to do with private equity owning a firm that sells toys.  I'm not sure how optimizing cash flow from an LBO is so unethical?

It's sloganeering/headline reading that breeds this reaction.  Not reading/research and deep thinking.  If you don't/can't understand  how private equity works, someone with an agenda will simplify it for you..and send you out feeling smart to spread the message.  Idiots utiles I believe the French call it.  It's a lot easier to have a couple sentences or phrases placed in your mind for easy recall, than to read a 10,000 word treatise on leverage buy outs, and research what is involved in taking a  public company private....and realizing the inherent risks/rewards associated with this method of capital extraction. 

 

The poor/uninformed always need a villain.  Someone  to hate, and/or blame for their personal failings.  It makes life easier, and more bearable, thinking some God or rich person, or government is really in control of you..the system is rigged...you didn't stand a chance..Just give up, my child...I'll protect you.  But it's going to cost you...put a little in the basket/plate, render unto Ceaser, pay your taxes, give your fair share etc.

So back to the topic of toys r us going out of business...

 

I would be very saddened to see them go out of business. I have landed quite a few good toy deals from them and they are by far the largest selection of lego in stores besides actual Lego stores (two hours away from me). Therefore I love TRU, I love how they price match now, and I love buying several hundred sets from them at once and seeing the thankful look in the managers eyes

i love reading these crazy conversations

So is it safe to assume you guys are in favor of LBOs? And under ANY circumstance? I will openly admit that I have not read the 10K page document and have not done a lot of research. I am well aware that Romney had little to no involvement with TRU but probably did with KB. Also, once TRU does go BK, how much money is Bain (and Romney) going to make by selling off the assets?

 

I am not convinced that TRU would have gone under without the raping investment dollars. Probably, but not definitely. My original point was that it is really a shame that more and more companies are (and will continue to) go away and that there those out there that are more than happy to expedite that process and get rich while doing it. At some point, enough is enough.

 

And, there is a big difference in calling a company greedy bastards and stating that the "stupid got thick in here fast". I took that personally. Not sure how else it could have been interpreted. "That's the problem with you folks" - uh, condescend much? This topic never should have never turned personal, so thanks for that.

 

As for TRU, I hope they don't go away. I see many happy kids while I am in the store. I think they still need a place to go to "ooh" and "ahh" over stuff. Are people supposed to put their 7 year old on the internet and say "tell me what looks interesting"?

The TRU near me smells like wee wee.

People love to find the companies that fail and blame private equity while forgetting the ones that would not have succeeded without it. Also, is it overly greedy to loan someone money knowing they can't pay it back? Maybe, but borrowing money you have no way of paying is just as greedy as that. There are 2 sides to everything, it's just easier to blame the rich or the anonymous company.

Personally, I have good memories from TRU from when I was a kid, so I would not want them to go under, but if they do, it just proves they just were not quick enough in adapting to the changing times.

Thank you.  Couldn't agree more.  People need to quit name-calling in general and especially quit calling people greedy, especially on an investment site.

 

Poor, uncreative, incompetent people (or people trying to push an agenda) are the ones who sit around calling others greedy.

 

I find it funny when people think that rich come just from hard working and competent people... alot of rich people are rich BECAUSE OF poor people.... 

 

If we remove every incompetent person and poor guy from Market rich companies go bankrupt within 6 months (without goverment interuption and FED printing money!)

 

 

They used to say for 1 greedy rich man there are hundreds living in poverty....  

 

I am not poor, neither am I incompetent even less uncreative, and i still find people with billions greedy.... why not give it to your employees? They were the one who ''suffered'' from low payrolls so he/you can get rich....   In company I work for currently when we get good results we all receive bonus in the end... the higher the final outcome of the annual income for company the higher the bonus.... thats the only way to go.... and if someone has billions his employees deserve payrolls in quadriple digits at minimum for bringing him such fortune in the first place.

 

And this logic has nothing to do with lack of anything you mentioned! 

 

Some of you praise people who have billions out of the market and fluctuation of cash that (partly) helps keeping up the crisis in the first place.... 

 

Remember: 

 

Every million in the bank is a million OUT of the market fluctuation of money.... and every Buck FED prints sinks half of the world in inflation....  and instead of figuring out that the more the rich people get rich the worse it is for everyone because our money loses value the sooner will be better... 

 

 

 

Remember... there are loads of richer people than you and for them you are poor, uncreative incompetent loser aswell does it sound good?

The TRU near where I live has been getting quieter in recent years and I won't be surprised if that's the next big name in the UK to go belly up.  Due to constant overcharging (not just LEGO), the customers are starting to vote with their feet.  It seems to me like the current expansion of Smyths Toys (better in every way) may be the final nail in the coffin for TRU.  Good riddance, I say.

all above so true!!!....or maybe So!?...TRU? :-)

As much as I want to respond to Alcarin's post, please let's keep the topic to TRU.

As much as I want to respond to Alcarin's post, please let's keep the topic to TRU.

 

Agreed...I just ignore all his posts now....
Interesting read:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304864504579141304065848042

 

 

If link doesn't work--search no joy toysrus and click on the wsj link.  Great article.