Toys "R" Us/Babies "R" Us/Kids "R" Us

[TheFugitive]

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is pressuring the venture funds who decided to
liquidate Toys R Us to put aside money to pay severance to their 30,000 laid-off employees.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elizabeth-warren-questions-toys-r-us-liquidation-calls-for-workers-severance/

I don't think there is any legal basis for this.  She appears to be trying to jawbone them into it
based on the fact that they reportedly turned-down offers to sell the company to parties who would
have kept it operating.

[danfifepsu]

I went in Toys r us in Sherbrooke QC Canada 2 days ago and how it was a great moment to see Toys r us again (for the first time since June 27, 2018)! It was small. it had a line in the store. it was in a mall too!

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Nice one, Dan!

Here's a topic for you: http://amesfanclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=5180.0

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

The former Toys "R" Us in Springfield, Illinois is about to become Big Lots:

[danfifepsu]

The former Toys "R" Us in Springfield, Illinois is about to become Big Lots:

if Toys r us wants to start over then what of there or other places other retailers have taken up the store?

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

The former Toys "R" Us in Springfield, Illinois is about to become Big Lots:

if Toys r us wants to start over then what of there or other places other retailers have taken up the store?

Toys "R" Us is not going to start over in the way that you think...

These things take a while to happen, and if they do, they'll have to start small.

[danfifepsu]

The former Toys "R" Us in Springfield, Illinois is about to become Big Lots:

if Toys r us wants to start over then what of there or other places other retailers have taken up the store?

Toys "R" Us is not going to start over in the way that you think...

These things take a while to happen, and if they do, they'll have to start small.

then whatll happen? and not start over the way I think??? will they have smaller stores

stuff said "The toy supermarket business model doesnt work anymore", I guess that was so 1980s

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/29/christmas-without-toys-r-us-leaves-toy-market-wide-open-liz-dunn.html

https://blog.timesunion.com/savings/with-toys-r-us-gone-retailers-vie-to-fill-a-toy-vacuum/22632/

[danfifepsu]

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/29/christmas-without-toys-r-us-leaves-toy-market-wide-open-liz-dunn.html

https://blog.timesunion.com/savings/with-toys-r-us-gone-retailers-vie-to-fill-a-toy-vacuum/22632/

most product catergories have a store devoted to it but none for Toys, Toys r us is still in Canada.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/29/christmas-without-toys-r-us-leaves-toy-market-wide-open-liz-dunn.html

https://blog.timesunion.com/savings/with-toys-r-us-gone-retailers-vie-to-fill-a-toy-vacuum/22632/

most product catergories have a store devoted to it but none for Toys, Toys r us is still in Canada.

Toy City may have what you're looking for...

Hobbytown USA is a hobby toy store. They carry model car kits, radio-controlled cars, drones, LEGO building sets, etc.

[danfifepsu]

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/29/christmas-without-toys-r-us-leaves-toy-market-wide-open-liz-dunn.html

https://blog.timesunion.com/savings/with-toys-r-us-gone-retailers-vie-to-fill-a-toy-vacuum/22632/

most product catergories have a store devoted to it but none for Toys, Toys r us is still in Canada.

Toy City may have what you're looking for...

Hobbytown USA is a hobby toy store. They carry model car kits, radio-controlled cars, drones, LEGO building sets, etc.

there still needs to be a toy only store.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

there still needs to be a toy only store.

There's 1,000's of local toy-only stores that operate in a similar way that Charles Lazarus' Children's Supermart, Toys "R" Us' predecessor, did back in the 1940s and 1950s. They sell tons of toys for kids of all ages.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Kroger Quietly Brings Toys R Us Branding In-Store
'Geoffrey's Toy Box' displays adorned with iconic giraffe spotted on the retail floor
By Rebekah Marcarelli, Winsight Grocery Business on Nov. 01, 2018

Toys R Us may be dead and gone but its iconic Geoffrey the Giraffe mascot may live on at Kroger.

When the popular toy store shut its collective doors in June as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the retailer's intellectual property was acquired by investors led by its parent company's lenders. That group said it was "actively working with potential partners to develop ideas for new Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores in the United States and abroad that could bring back these iconic brands in a new and re-imagined way." The first evidence of that move appears to be arriving in at least some Kroger stores behind a "Geoffrey's Toy Box" program ahead of the holiday season.

The program so far appears to include giraffe-branded displays and shippers carrying toys such as Journey Girls, according to some social media posts.

This will be the first holiday season without Toys R Us, whose store liquidation put more than $11 billion in annual toy sales up for grabs. It remains to be seen how the important shopping occasion will pan out.

A study by Gordon Haskett Research Advisors in partnership with data provider Alpha Hat named Target and Walmart as the likely winners of the toys race in Toys R Us' absence, CNBC reported. Additionally, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Costco saw significant toy sales with the named winners capturing about 58% of the traffic that would have otherwise gone to Toys R Us.

However, Toys R Us still has the potential to make a comeback, as investors have said they think it will be more profitable to revive the toy store and enhance it with new ideas instead of selling it for parts, according to CBS News.

In addition to the new branded toy displays, Kroger also upped its one-stop-shop game with a new signature clothing line, dubbed Dip, in September.

https://www.winsightgrocerybusiness.com/retailers/kroger-quietly-brings-toys-r-us-branding-store

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Toys R Us comeback? New name, same Geoffrey emerges from Wayne headquarters

Joan Verdon, North Jersey Record Published 5:22 a.m. ET Oct. 3, 2018 | Updated 10:14 a.m. ET Oct. 4, 2018

Toys R Back?

Not quite, but the first signs of how the financial firms that carved up Toys R Us plan to resurrect the iconic brand from the ashes of its bankruptcy and liquidation have started to emerge.

The lenders who own a key piece of the old Toys R Us have revealed that they are keeping the corporate brand names and intellectual properties, including Geoffrey, the brand's giraffe mascot, and are dipping their toes back in the toy business with a wholesale venture called Geoffrey's Toy Box.

They are also saying they hope to have pop-ups in place inside the stores of a regional mass merchant in time for the holidays, and to re-launch Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores in this country down the road.

The lender groups behind the new venture have been called "vulture capitalists" by workers' organizations for not contributing to a fund to help laid-off Toys R Us employees. United4Respect, which represents Toys R Us workers, called the Geoffrey Toy Box news "another move to make money off a beloved brand without any regard for the hardworking people who made the company what families loved."

Geoffrey's Toy Box introduced itself to toy manufacturers and sellers Tuesday at the opening of the Dallas toy show, with an exhibit booth and a costumed Geoffrey mascot, who was spotted wearing a cape with the words "Back from Vacation." Toy manufacturers at the show were tweeting and posting on LinkedIn that they had spotted Geoffrey and Richard Barry, the former chief merchandising officer at Toys R Us, who appears to be heading the new venture for the investors.

Winning back trust

To resurrect the brand, the lender groups will have to win the trust of toy manufacturers who were burned during the bankruptcy, experts said.

"Anyone can show up at the Dallas markets, but without trade vendor support, there aren't going to be stores full of toys, no matter how many Geoffrey statues they have,"  said Ted Gavin, managing director of Gavin/Solmonese, a bankruptcy and restructuring consulting firm.

Toy manufacturers will sell to the resurrected company if they are confident they will get paid, said Jim Silver, industry expert and editor in chief of the toy review website TTPM. "But they're not going to line up for, 'Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.' "

The new venture, for the time being, is being operated out of the Toys R Us headquarters building in Wayne, where a small number of former Toys R Us executives and employees continue to report to work.

Played a role in shutdown

Geoffrey, LLC, a subsidiary of Toys R Us that owns the companies' intellectual property rights, issued a press release late Tuesday saying it is working on a plan that could bring "new and re-imagined Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores" back to the United States. Geoffrey, LLC, is controlled by lender groups that provided financing during the bankruptcy and that have been criticized for the role they played in the shutdown.

The Toy Book, a trade publication, reported that Barry said the new company is exploring "stores within stores" partnerships with a large Midwestern retailer.

"There's a very limited scope of who that could be, and the immediate name that comes to mind is Meijer, which is regional, based in Michigan, and [former Toys R Us chief executive] Dave Brandon was on their board of directors," said James Zahn, a toy reviewer and publisher of The Rock Father magazine.

Zahn said he believes that putting Geoffrey's Toy Box displays in another retailer's stores "cheapens the brand."

"It feels like a last-ditch effort to keep Geoffrey in front of consumers in the holiday season at a time when Toys R Us really doesn't exist any more," he said.

If it gets launched, Geoffrey's Toy Box will have a lot of tough competition in the pop-up space this year, Silver said. Party City's Toy City stores are doing well already. FAO Schwarz is planning pop-ups, and retailers like Walmart and Target have expanded their holiday toy departments, he said.

Toys R Us opted to close all of its stores after lenders backing the bankruptcy financing said they had lost confidence in the company's reorganization plan. All of the stores closed by the end of June.

The lender group told the Bankruptcy Court in a document filed Monday that it had canceled an auction for the brand names and intellectual properties that was scheduled for Thursday. The group also said that although it had received bids for the properties, it believed that keeping the property rights and launching a branding business and possible retail operation would produce greater financial returns.

Short-term strategy

It's not unusual for lenders who feel they are not receiving high enough bids for their properties to retain them, said Stephen Selbst, chairman of the bankruptcy and restructuring group at Manhattan law firm Herrick Feinstein. "It becomes an automatic question: Can we do better on our own?" he said.

He doesn't believe the distressed-asset lenders involved in the new venture are planning to stay in the retail business for long. "They're smart players in the distressed space," he said. "I would be surprised if they had the appetite to be in the bricks-and-mortar retail business for long.

"The idea would be: See what we can do in terms of creating value," he said, then dispose of the business "and turn our claims into cash."

The lenders' group told the Bankruptcy Court it envisions "a new, operating Toys R Us and Babies R Us branding company that maintains existing global license agreements and can invest in and create new, domestic, retail operating businesses under the Toys R Us and Babies R Us names, as well as expand its international presence and further develop its private brands business."

Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that the Geoffrey, LLC, group includes the Solus Alternative Asset Management and Angelo Gordon funds. The brand names and intellectual property rights served as collateral to secure loans backed by the lenders' group.

Worker protests

Solus and Angelo Gordon have been criticized by worker groups for refusing to contribute to a fund for laid-off Toys R Us employees. Workers appeared before the New Jersey State Investment Council last week to urge the state to withdraw its $300 million investment with Solus.

Geoffrey, LLC, owns the rights to more than 20 toy and baby brands Toys R Us sold as part of its private-label merchandise, including Imaginarium, Koala Baby, Fastlane and Journey Girls. It could continue supplying those products on a wholesale basis.

It also owns the rights to the Toys R Us and Babies R Us names in all countries except Canada, and baby and gift registries operated by the former company.

The Geoffrey, LLC, plan is subject to final approval by the Bankruptcy Court.

[giantsfan2016]

Kroger Quietly Brings Toys R Us Branding In-Store
'Geoffrey's Toy Box' displays adorned with iconic giraffe spotted on the retail floor
By Rebekah Marcarelli, Winsight Grocery Business on Nov. 01, 2018

Toys R Us may be dead and gone but its iconic Geoffrey the Giraffe mascot may live on at Kroger.

When the popular toy store shut its collective doors in June as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the retailer's intellectual property was acquired by investors led by its parent company's lenders. That group said it was "actively working with potential partners to develop ideas for new Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores in the United States and abroad that could bring back these iconic brands in a new and re-imagined way." The first evidence of that move appears to be arriving in at least some Kroger stores behind a "Geoffrey's Toy Box" program ahead of the holiday season.

The program so far appears to include giraffe-branded displays and shippers carrying toys such as Journey Girls, according to some social media posts.

This will be the first holiday season without Toys R Us, whose store liquidation put more than $11 billion in annual toy sales up for grabs. It remains to be seen how the important shopping occasion will pan out.

A study by Gordon Haskett Research Advisors in partnership with data provider Alpha Hat named Target and Walmart as the likely winners of the toys race in Toys R Us' absence, CNBC reported. Additionally, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Costco saw significant toy sales with the named winners capturing about 58% of the traffic that would have otherwise gone to Toys R Us.

However, Toys R Us still has the potential to make a comeback, as investors have said they think it will be more profitable to revive the toy store and enhance it with new ideas instead of selling it for parts, according to CBS News.

In addition to the new branded toy displays, Kroger also upped its one-stop-shop game with a new signature clothing line, dubbed Dip, in September.

https://www.winsightgrocerybusiness.com/retailers/kroger-quietly-brings-toys-r-us-branding-store

To me this is no different than how FAO Schwarz branded toys are now available at Macy's and Kohl's.

[danfifepsu]

Kroger Quietly Brings Toys R Us Branding In-Store
'Geoffrey's Toy Box' displays adorned with iconic giraffe spotted on the retail floor
By Rebekah Marcarelli, Winsight Grocery Business on Nov. 01, 2018

Toys R Us may be dead and gone but its iconic Geoffrey the Giraffe mascot may live on at Kroger.

When the popular toy store shut its collective doors in June as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the retailer's intellectual property was acquired by investors led by its parent company's lenders. That group said it was "actively working with potential partners to develop ideas for new Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores in the United States and abroad that could bring back these iconic brands in a new and re-imagined way." The first evidence of that move appears to be arriving in at least some Kroger stores behind a "Geoffrey's Toy Box" program ahead of the holiday season.

The program so far appears to include giraffe-branded displays and shippers carrying toys such as Journey Girls, according to some social media posts.

This will be the first holiday season without Toys R Us, whose store liquidation put more than $11 billion in annual toy sales up for grabs. It remains to be seen how the important shopping occasion will pan out.

A study by Gordon Haskett Research Advisors in partnership with data provider Alpha Hat named Target and Walmart as the likely winners of the toys race in Toys R Us' absence, CNBC reported. Additionally, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Costco saw significant toy sales with the named winners capturing about 58% of the traffic that would have otherwise gone to Toys R Us.

However, Toys R Us still has the potential to make a comeback, as investors have said they think it will be more profitable to revive the toy store and enhance it with new ideas instead of selling it for parts, according to CBS News.

In addition to the new branded toy displays, Kroger also upped its one-stop-shop game with a new signature clothing line, dubbed Dip, in September.

https://www.winsightgrocerybusiness.com/retailers/kroger-quietly-brings-toys-r-us-branding-store

To me this is no different than how FAO Schwarz branded toys are now available at Macy's and Kohl's.

I agree but it's a stepping stone to coming back, and will these be stand alone stores? This I feel is the first Christmas season without ANY standalone Toy store, the first.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

This I feel is the first Christmas season without ANY standalone Toy store, the first.

...Unless you count the local mom-and-pop toy stores, which are doing well despite the loss of Toys "R" Us and other chain toy stores.
Don't forget that Strategic Marks, LLC. is supposed to relaunch K-B Toys this month. The K-B Toys pop-up stores open up on Black Friday. After the holidays end, some of those pop-up stores will be permanent additions, while other locations might get eighty-sixed in favor of something else if they performed poorly.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Here's what the inside of a Toy City looks like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oe6xuGucnc

The Toy City stores take up 1/3 of the space previously occupied by a Toys "R" Us before October 31st. After October 31st and throughout the holiday season, Toy City will take over two thirds of the space.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

The floor plan for the former Toys "R" Us Geoffrey store prototype in Meridian, Mississippi.

[danfifepsu]

The floor plan for the former Toys "R" Us Geoffrey store prototype in Meridian, Mississippi.

that closed in the early 2018 wave of closings. and why?

Also this Christmas Toys r us closing left a MASSIVE VOID.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Everyone on this forum and off this forum will tell you and everyone else that Toys "R" Us was killed off by debt and competing retailers. It's unfortunate really, but that's the way it is. Just keep your fingers crossed that they will return someday. I read that they'll reboot the chain in the future, and that the Geoffrey's Toy Box products being sold at Kroger are the springboard for its future revival as a physical retailer.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

The floor plan for the former Toys "R" Us Geoffrey store prototype in Meridian, Mississippi.

that closed in the early 2018 wave of closings. and why?

Also this Christmas Toys r us closing left a MASSIVE VOID.

Read this article:
https://www.wtok.com/content/news/Geoffrey-toy-store-closes-doors-in-Meridian-479932983.html

I know that the closing of Toys "R" Us left a huge void. What else is new?
It's also not helping the Marine Corps' Toys For Tots charity either, that's for sure.

At least they still exist outside the USA, UK and Australia. Our closest locations are in Canada.

[danfifepsu]

Everyone on this forum and off this forum will tell you and everyone else that Toys "R" Us was killed off by debt and competing retailers. It's unfortunate really, but that's the way it is. Just keep your fingers crossed that they will return someday. I read that they'll reboot the chain in the future, and that the Geoffrey's Toy Box products being sold at Kroger are the springboard for its future revival as a physical retailer.

OH I know Toys r us was killed off by DEBT as it was 5 billion and can ya make it with that high of debt? and 2013 was a bad year, they canceled going public and since then around Xmas a store or 2 would get axed due to sale of the property and lease expiring. That shouldnt be of competing retailers as no one else had the variety or Volume Toys r us had (I have felt that way for 30 yrs of Toys r us).

also that did not look good that early 2018 wave and the 2006 wave of some Toys r us' closing where its the only Toys r us for 1 or 2 hours away, the store should have an advantage with that. and that didnt look good Tallahassee Fl was in that early 2018 wave as its a big enough of a populated center and no other Toys r us' for 2 hours (the city has 200,000 ppl and metro area 400,000, one should make it if its the only store like that, I know it had the old school look but others with that look survived). Again it should have an advantage if its the only one around.

Also I feel Toys r us that opened  1995 and earlier that had not had the inside remodeled since it opened were in BAD SHAPE and thus also had a poor selection and in poor condition.

How can Toys r us come back and how can they if many of their properties are already taken up by other retailers?

I noticed  Target's Toy Depts picked over cause they have nowhere to go with Toys r us gone. Target's demographics matched Toys r us more.

[danfifepsu]

How will Toys r us make a comeback when some of their properties have been sold or taken over by other places ?

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

How will Toys r us make a comeback when some of their properties have been sold or taken over by other places ?

Don't ask me!  >:(

[Pikapower]

How will Toys r us make a comeback when some of their properties have been sold or taken over by other places ?

If Toys "R" Us does return maybe they move in to an old Sears or Kmart store.

[danfifepsu]

How will Toys r us make a comeback when some of their properties have been sold or taken over by other places ?

If Toys "R" Us does return maybe they move in to an old Sears or Kmart store.

those spaces could be taken tooooooo. I feel their stores still need be within 1 mile of the mall, like their stores were in such great spots like right near the mall. I hope its not there is no room, in these retail areas for them to come back.

However near the end many of their stores were hard to get in and out of and the end I noticed potholes in the parking lots such as the ones in Clay NY and Williamsville Ny.

Yes I feel the stores that opened in 1995 and EARLIER YEARS that had not had the inside ever remodeled or aisles rearranged looked dumpy near the end and had a poor selection and didnt even have the Movie HQ near the front.

Toys r us closing it hurt a lot of toy retailers this Xmas season and people had no where else to go.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

How will Toys r us make a comeback when some of their properties have been sold or taken over by other places ?

If Toys "R" Us does return maybe they move in to an old Sears or Kmart store.

...or they couldemolish the Kmart or Sears store and build a new Toys "R" Us store on the land.

[danfifepsu]

How will Toys r us make a comeback when some of their properties have been sold or taken over by other places ?

If Toys "R" Us does return maybe they move in to an old Sears or Kmart store.

...or they couldemolish the Kmart or Sears store and build a new Toys "R" Us store on the land.

I just hope its not of some places "there is no room" of Toys r us coming back to some places.

Also what made some stores of they never had the inside changed at all since it opened in the 1980s and first half of the 1990s? those ones was like walking into a Kmart I feel.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Also what made some stores of they never had the inside changed at all since it opened in the 1980s and first half of the 1990s? those ones was like walking into a Kmart I feel.

I think that age has something to do with the early stores having that Kmart-like feeling. Give it a few decades, and most Walmarts and Targets will get aged up the same way. It does not happen overnight.

I'm more in favor of tearing down a Kmart, Sears, Value City, etc. to build Toys "R" Us' "store of the future" prototype which combines shopping with play.