@Goddess Erosia
I’m sure they’ll start selling off excess stock to other stores
Yeah, I’m pretty sure they’ve been doing exactly that for a while now; I hit up the 5 Below next to a TЯU to get the EqG Minifigures that were originally announced as appearing first at TЯU, and there were also a bunch of Guardians Of Harmony sets, some of which were first sold at the $14.99 price point; everything at 5 Below is priced exactly that way.
they sold their souls with some contract in exchange for exposure or whatever that would put them in an absurd debt they basically could never pay off
Oh no, it was much more malicious and deliberate than that. They were doing okay, but their profit margins were starting to droop thanks to online sellers undercutting them on price, so they started looking around for ways to get more market share and made the strategic blunder of thinking that expanding their locations was the way to do it; they funded the expansion by selling off controlling interest to a corporate meatgrinder company without doing enough due dilligence to realize that the new bosses’ business model was built on destroying whatever companies they acquired, and that’s exactly they did. The new owners used the expansion plans to take out huge loans, then used that money to pay themselves enormous salaries and bonuses, pay off their earlier debts, and siphon as much as possible off into other projects; the inevitable, deliberate result was that TЯU was left with a debt it couldn’t possibly service, and there was basically no way it could avoid fire sale bankruptcy. The company is defunct, the workers are out of jobs, a beloved brand is dead… but the executives that killed it made out like bandits, so they’ll just move on to the next company.
@TexasUberAlles
I found my discord at a hot topic a while ago at some mall. With the fall of Toys R Us across the country, I’m sure they’ll start selling off excess stock to other stores. So we might see a sudden influx of things like this in places like that. There’s probably more in a box somewhere that they’re not actually putting on the shelves.
Honestly, the one store I went for the going-out-of-business sale for some reason really gave me the impression they were only pretending to make a big deal out of the sale so they could do just that, to get rid of everything at full price behind closed doors. That could really be more out of desperation than greed though, like you were saying - there is a clear sign of corruption behind this entire ordeal, this death of a beloved franchise. I forget what company actually did buy them but the story most people don’t realize is that Toys r Us basically did something similar to what the Beetles did by accident - they sold their souls with some contract in exchange for exposure or whatever that would put them in an absurd debt they basically could never pay off, which explains why they price gauged like mad for so long with their products. The store became less viable with the advent of online shopping, where people could satisfy their kids for a lot cheaper. And they just had a harder and harder time paying their debt each year because of that. I remember someone saying that whoever did this to them also has a reputation of doing that to other stores.
Maybe in a few years once Toys r Us really is dead, some other large company will try to take the spotlight. In many cities, a huge super-market sized toy store could still have a great audience if they could afford to sell things cheaper. Who knows - maybe in 10 years we’ll have a brand from someone who DOESN’T mess up and sign a bad contract that would make that work.
I haven’t bothered to look up what vulture capitalist shitbag consortium was responsible for deliberately running Toys”Я”Us into the ground, mostly because if I did I’m not sure I’d be able to keep myself from visiting their executives in the night. Fucking bastards.
@bluemeganium
I see the MLP displays in homes of pony fans
I’ve asked, the store managers say they don’t actually own the displays and will have to send them back once the stores actually close. It sucks, because they’re literally selling the shelves and light fixtures and courtesy wheelchairs, but I can’t buy the awesome 3’x4’ Mane Six tapestries that are still hanging over the empty Pink aisles.
I intend to keep asking in the hopes that I’ll eventually find someone on duty who doesn’t know that and I can make off with some highly collectible wall hangings for closeout prices.
It’s moments like this that I curse the Toy Story franchise, because I can’t see this and not think of a toy that only wants to be loved by someone having to watch everything else around him get bought.