Walmart, Target are prepping for a post-Toys ‘R’ Us world

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Walmart, Target are prepping for a post-Toys ‘R’ Us world

By Lisa Fickenscher, The New York Post
May 2, 2018 | 10:54pm | Updated

With just weeks left before the last Toys ‘R’ Us stores go dark, rivals are circling like vultures.
Walmart, Target, Amazon and a host of other chains â€" including unlikely toy destinations like Party City and Ace Hardware â€" have been increasing their toy orders over the past several weeks, The Post has learned.

The gathering horde hopes to profit by gobbling larger portions of the $22 billion toy industry.
Toys ‘R’ Us rang up $11.5 billion in sales in 2016 â€" and that business will be up for grabs starting in early July when the last of the bankrupt chain’s stores close their doors.
Walmart execs have identified 800 stores that are within a five- to 10-mile drive of a Toys ‘R’ Us location. Those stores will carry extra toy inventory in stockrooms and nearby distribution centers, sources said, with no current plans to expand toy departments.

Jay Foreman, chief executive of Basic Fun, an impulse and novelty toy outfit known for its toilet-humor Poopeez line, has benefited from Walmart’s strategy through larger orders from the Bentonville, Arkansas, chain, he said.
Walmart declined to comment on its plans.
“There’s a lot of scrambling going on right now,” said Bernardo Melo, vice president of global sales and marketing for Singing Machine, which sells karaoke systems.

Target, for example, may be “adding space [by] cutting into some other departments,” said Melo, who was briefed on the company’s strategy.
A chain spokeswoman confirmed some stores will devote more space to toys and that this summer, for the first time, the 1,800-store retailer “is carving out sizable space for outdoor toys” like electric vehicles, bikes, play houses and pools.
The chance to pick up even a small slice of the bankrupt chain’s $11 billion in sales is attracting unlikely interested parties, sources said.

Party City buyers, possibly for the first time, attended the TTPM toy fair last week in Manhattan, lifting vendors’ hopes it will be adding gifts to its assortments of plates, napkins, balloons and party favors.
“The buzz is that they are building out a gift section,” said Hattie Grace Elliot, founder of Blankie Tails. A second toy maker said Party City is planning pop-up toy shops leading into the holidays.
Jamie Uitdenhowen, a top Toys ‘R’ Us executive, joined the 900-store Party City chain in December as chief merchandising officer.
“He has unbelievable relationships with the toy manufacturers,” said Jim Silver, president of TTPM, a toy review website. “Party City is going heavily into toys.”
Despite the yeoman-like efforts of chains to fill the Toys ‘R’ Us void, toy makers believe it will take until 2020 to return to 2016 sales levels.
Basic Fun’s Foreman said he expects the company to be short $12 million in sales this year.

Singing Machine’s $40 to $300 karaoke systems were displayed over 12 feet of shelves at Toys ‘R’ Us compared with 2 feet at Walmart and 4 feet at Target.

Bratz doll and L.O.L Surprise maker MGA Entertainment is expecting that 50 to 60 percent of the toy industry’s lost Toys ‘R’ Us sales will flow to other retailers, said chief executive Isaac Larian.
Larian’s bid to buy the US operations of Toys ‘R’ Us will come to a head next week, he said, when he submits his final offer â€" a sweetened bid from his previous $675 million offer.
Larian lost a bid to buy the Canadian division of the bankrupt toy chain when he was outbid by Fairfax Financial Holdings, which is reportedly interested in bidding for Toys ‘R’ Us stores in the US.

[danfifepsu]

I hope Larian never gives up. Toys r us is too lucrative of a business to go out.

[JJBers]

Walmart, Target are prepping for a post-Toys ‘R’ Us world

By Lisa Fickenscher, The New York Post
May 2, 2018 | 10:54pm | Updated

With just weeks left before the last Toys ‘R’ Us stores go dark, rivals are circling like vultures.
Walmart, Target, Amazon and a host of other chains â€" including unlikely toy destinations like Party City and Ace Hardware â€" have been increasing their toy orders over the past several weeks, The Post has learned.

The gathering horde hopes to profit by gobbling larger portions of the $22 billion toy industry.
Toys ‘R’ Us rang up $11.5 billion in sales in 2016 â€" and that business will be up for grabs starting in early July when the last of the bankrupt chain’s stores close their doors.
Walmart execs have identified 800 stores that are within a five- to 10-mile drive of a Toys ‘R’ Us location. Those stores will carry extra toy inventory in stockrooms and nearby distribution centers, sources said, with no current plans to expand toy departments.

Jay Foreman, chief executive of Basic Fun, an impulse and novelty toy outfit known for its toilet-humor Poopeez line, has benefited from Walmart’s strategy through larger orders from the Bentonville, Arkansas, chain, he said.
Walmart declined to comment on its plans.
“There’s a lot of scrambling going on right now,” said Bernardo Melo, vice president of global sales and marketing for Singing Machine, which sells karaoke systems.

Target, for example, may be “adding space [by] cutting into some other departments,” said Melo, who was briefed on the company’s strategy.
A chain spokeswoman confirmed some stores will devote more space to toys and that this summer, for the first time, the 1,800-store retailer “is carving out sizable space for outdoor toys” like electric vehicles, bikes, play houses and pools.
The chance to pick up even a small slice of the bankrupt chain’s $11 billion in sales is attracting unlikely interested parties, sources said.

Party City buyers, possibly for the first time, attended the TTPM toy fair last week in Manhattan, lifting vendors’ hopes it will be adding gifts to its assortments of plates, napkins, balloons and party favors.
“The buzz is that they are building out a gift section,” said Hattie Grace Elliot, founder of Blankie Tails. A second toy maker said Party City is planning pop-up toy shops leading into the holidays.
Jamie Uitdenhowen, a top Toys ‘R’ Us executive, joined the 900-store Party City chain in December as chief merchandising officer.
“He has unbelievable relationships with the toy manufacturers,” said Jim Silver, president of TTPM, a toy review website. “Party City is going heavily into toys.”
Despite the yeoman-like efforts of chains to fill the Toys ‘R’ Us void, toy makers believe it will take until 2020 to return to 2016 sales levels.
Basic Fun’s Foreman said he expects the company to be short $12 million in sales this year.

Singing Machine’s $40 to $300 karaoke systems were displayed over 12 feet of shelves at Toys ‘R’ Us compared with 2 feet at Walmart and 4 feet at Target.

Bratz doll and L.O.L Surprise maker MGA Entertainment is expecting that 50 to 60 percent of the toy industry’s lost Toys ‘R’ Us sales will flow to other retailers, said chief executive Isaac Larian.
Larian’s bid to buy the US operations of Toys ‘R’ Us will come to a head next week, he said, when he submits his final offer â€" a sweetened bid from his previous $675 million offer.
Larian lost a bid to buy the Canadian division of the bankrupt toy chain when he was outbid by Fairfax Financial Holdings, which is reportedly interested in bidding for Toys ‘R’ Us stores in the US.

So a Toys "R" Us successor is already going to have issues in America with competition.

[danfifepsu]

Walmart, Target are prepping for a post-Toys ‘R’ Us world

By Lisa Fickenscher, The New York Post
May 2, 2018 | 10:54pm | Updated

With just weeks left before the last Toys ‘R’ Us stores go dark, rivals are circling like vultures.
Walmart, Target, Amazon and a host of other chains â€" including unlikely toy destinations like Party City and Ace Hardware â€" have been increasing their toy orders over the past several weeks, The Post has learned.

The gathering horde hopes to profit by gobbling larger portions of the $22 billion toy industry.
Toys ‘R’ Us rang up $11.5 billion in sales in 2016 â€" and that business will be up for grabs starting in early July when the last of the bankrupt chain’s stores close their doors.
Walmart execs have identified 800 stores that are within a five- to 10-mile drive of a Toys ‘R’ Us location. Those stores will carry extra toy inventory in stockrooms and nearby distribution centers, sources said, with no current plans to expand toy departments.

Jay Foreman, chief executive of Basic Fun, an impulse and novelty toy outfit known for its toilet-humor Poopeez line, has benefited from Walmart’s strategy through larger orders from the Bentonville, Arkansas, chain, he said.
Walmart declined to comment on its plans.
“There’s a lot of scrambling going on right now,” said Bernardo Melo, vice president of global sales and marketing for Singing Machine, which sells karaoke systems.

Target, for example, may be “adding space [by] cutting into some other departments,” said Melo, who was briefed on the company’s strategy.
A chain spokeswoman confirmed some stores will devote more space to toys and that this summer, for the first time, the 1,800-store retailer “is carving out sizable space for outdoor toys” like electric vehicles, bikes, play houses and pools.
The chance to pick up even a small slice of the bankrupt chain’s $11 billion in sales is attracting unlikely interested parties, sources said.

Party City buyers, possibly for the first time, attended the TTPM toy fair last week in Manhattan, lifting vendors’ hopes it will be adding gifts to its assortments of plates, napkins, balloons and party favors.
“The buzz is that they are building out a gift section,” said Hattie Grace Elliot, founder of Blankie Tails. A second toy maker said Party City is planning pop-up toy shops leading into the holidays.
Jamie Uitdenhowen, a top Toys ‘R’ Us executive, joined the 900-store Party City chain in December as chief merchandising officer.
“He has unbelievable relationships with the toy manufacturers,” said Jim Silver, president of TTPM, a toy review website. “Party City is going heavily into toys.”
Despite the yeoman-like efforts of chains to fill the Toys ‘R’ Us void, toy makers believe it will take until 2020 to return to 2016 sales levels.
Basic Fun’s Foreman said he expects the company to be short $12 million in sales this year.

Singing Machine’s $40 to $300 karaoke systems were displayed over 12 feet of shelves at Toys ‘R’ Us compared with 2 feet at Walmart and 4 feet at Target.

Bratz doll and L.O.L Surprise maker MGA Entertainment is expecting that 50 to 60 percent of the toy industry’s lost Toys ‘R’ Us sales will flow to other retailers, said chief executive Isaac Larian.
Larian’s bid to buy the US operations of Toys ‘R’ Us will come to a head next week, he said, when he submits his final offer â€" a sweetened bid from his previous $675 million offer.
Larian lost a bid to buy the Canadian division of the bankrupt toy chain when he was outbid by Fairfax Financial Holdings, which is reportedly interested in bidding for Toys ‘R’ Us stores in the US.

So a Toys "R" Us successor is already going to have issues in America with competition.

What? and Toys r us in Canada did Better and that has WAlmart and had Target for only 2 years (Zellers was before Target), something is wrong of Toys r us failing where they began.

But any way those chains dont have the variety or selection Toys r us did.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

It looks like Target and Party City are the only ones willing to expand their toy departments so far. Walmart might expand theirs at a later date.

[danfifepsu]

It looks like Target and Party City are the only ones willing to expand their toy departments so far. Walmart might expand theirs at a later date.

Still its not the same experience. Or is it the 30 to 45 k toy supermarket doesn't work anymore?