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Toys R Us bankruptcy filing?

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  • PapaBearPapaBear Member Posts: 665
    With TRU gone, Walmart, Amazon, and Target stand to take their toy market share.  It's better this way because those are the retailers that actually offer sales on LEGO.
  • elspankdogelspankdog Member Posts: 403
    My store was the same.  Idiots buying stuff at 5% off aka retail price.
    FowlerBricksSumoLegodehnehsuSprinkleOtter
  • datsunrobbiedatsunrobbie Member Posts: 1,830
    77ncaachamps said:
    dehnehsu said:
    Toys R Us Sunnyvale, Calif. LEGO only 5% off the already marked up price. Most other stuff only 10% off. The LEGO section was already picked thru by customers that don't seem know what a good deal is or what LEGO should cost. I saw lots of overpriced abandoned LEGO by the scanners.

    Funny thing about this "liquidation" is... prices were cheaper before!
    Liquidation sales are not designed to give customers great deals, they are designed to generate the most cash possible. Prices are often reset to higher than they were prior to the liquidation sale as a starting point. Then the signs come up, displaying markdowns based on the inflated starting price. Many customers lose their minds at 10% off, not realizing that the price is actually just MSRP. If the liquidation company is doing their job well, most inventory is gone before they have to get into truly substantial markdowns.
    LeeFstlux
  • Switchfoot55Switchfoot55 Member Posts: 3,478
    ^I've seen this on a number of occasions. 

    For those who take a step back and realize it, it can be frustrating. But I also understand the business aspect of it. Obviously it works per the comments of many who have already posted about empty shelves. 
    samiam391
  • AstrobricksAstrobricks Member Posts: 5,563
    teal93mr2 said:
    77ncaachamps said:

    Funny thing about this "liquidation" is... prices were cheaper before!

    That is a very funny thing I have never understood about the liquidation sales in this country.  People will flock to these stores and buy things to save just a couple of pennies while smart, savvy shoppers (such as the good folks of Brickset) save tons more on a regular basis.  Seldom are there actual deals, and in the end all that is left is junk. 
    That’s why you sometimes see stores running a perpetual going out of business sale. 
    pharmjodtomahawker77ncaachampsSprinkleOtter
  • daewoodaewoo Member Posts: 849
    Since I'm not looking for any specific sets, I'm happy to wait for the deeper discounts and pick up stuff for cheap that has parts that I need or could be useful.  I went the other day when the liquidation started and watched a mom excitedly grab a bunch of sets that were basically MSRP.  I just chuckled and went on my merry way.
  • eddieweddiew Member Posts: 80
    Switchfoot55 said:
    ^I've seen this on a number of occasions. 

    For those who take a step back and realize it, it can be frustrating. But I also understand the business aspect of it. Obviously it works per the comments of many who have already posted about empty shelves. 
    It is especially effective since you don't have to worry about customer relations further down the road.
    Switchfoot55
  • AstrobricksAstrobricks Member Posts: 5,563
    eddiew said:
    Switchfoot55 said:
    ^I've seen this on a number of occasions. 

    For those who take a step back and realize it, it can be frustrating. But I also understand the business aspect of it. Obviously it works per the comments of many who have already posted about empty shelves. 
    It is especially effective since you don't have to worry about customer relations further down the road.
    All sales final!
  • 560Heliport560Heliport Member Posts: 4,254
    If I bought anything there, I'd open it immediately to check the contents!
  • AstrobricksAstrobricks Member Posts: 5,563
    560Heliport said:
    If I bought anything there, I'd open it immediately to check the contents!
    But you’d still be stuck with it unless they let you open it before paying.
  • 560Heliport560Heliport Member Posts: 4,254
    I could have been more clear; that's what I meant. I wouldn't buy anything I wasn't certain of, if there'd be no way to return it. I wonder if that occurs to the people buying stuff just because it's "liquidation"... priced raised, then 10% off... what do you do if there's a problem?
  • datsunrobbiedatsunrobbie Member Posts: 1,830
    ^You pays your money and you takes your chances. Buy using a credit card and the card issuer might help out, but the "all sales final" signs are not just decorations.
  • tomahawkertomahawker Member Posts: 207
    I learned long ago that there were no bargains to be had at going-out-of-business sales due to the herd mentality of most shoppers. 

    Although TRU had their issues, there were deals to be had, and the loss of one more competitor will reduce, not increase, the likelihood of getting discounted Lego.
    juggles7
  • madforLEGOmadforLEGO Member Posts: 10,836
    datsunrobbie said:
    77ncaachamps said:
    dehnehsu said:
    Toys R Us Sunnyvale, Calif. LEGO only 5% off the already marked up price. Most other stuff only 10% off. The LEGO section was already picked thru by customers that don't seem know what a good deal is or what LEGO should cost. I saw lots of overpriced abandoned LEGO by the scanners.

    Funny thing about this "liquidation" is... prices were cheaper before!
    Liquidation sales are not designed to give customers great deals, they are designed to generate the most cash possible. Prices are often reset to higher than they were prior to the liquidation sale as a starting point. Then the signs come up, displaying markdowns based on the inflated starting price. Many customers lose their minds at 10% off, not realizing that the price is actually just MSRP. If the liquidation company is doing their job well, most inventory is gone before they have to get into truly substantial markdowns.
    I believe it is illegal to artificially raise prices before a sale; I'm presuming even for liquidations. RRP is one thing, bumping them higher than this is a no no if Im not mistaken, at least in IL
  • pharmjodpharmjod Member Posts: 2,916
    Caveat emptor
    Muftak1SumoLegoFizyx
  • AstrobricksAstrobricks Member Posts: 5,563
    madforLEGO said:
    datsunrobbie said:
    77ncaachamps said:
    dehnehsu said:
    Toys R Us Sunnyvale, Calif. LEGO only 5% off the already marked up price. Most other stuff only 10% off. The LEGO section was already picked thru by customers that don't seem know what a good deal is or what LEGO should cost. I saw lots of overpriced abandoned LEGO by the scanners.

    Funny thing about this "liquidation" is... prices were cheaper before!
    Liquidation sales are not designed to give customers great deals, they are designed to generate the most cash possible. Prices are often reset to higher than they were prior to the liquidation sale as a starting point. Then the signs come up, displaying markdowns based on the inflated starting price. Many customers lose their minds at 10% off, not realizing that the price is actually just MSRP. If the liquidation company is doing their job well, most inventory is gone before they have to get into truly substantial markdowns.
    I believe it is illegal to artificially raise prices before a sale; I'm presuming even for liquidations. RRP is one thing, bumping them higher than this is a no no if Im not mistaken, at least in IL
    Maybe, but who are they going to come after for it? Maybe the liquidation company if they make a habit of it, but then the liquidators will probably just blame the dead company.
  • SumoLegoSumoLego Member Posts: 15,241
    Suing a bankrupt company always works out.
    Muftak1Fizyxgmonkey76AstrobricksOubird77ncaachampsSprinkleOtter
  • alaskaguyalaskaguy Member Posts: 335
    Pro Tip: complaining about something doesn't equate to not understand the how and why of the thing being complained about (:
    Yo_dA
  • 77ncaachamps77ncaachamps Member Posts: 2,442
    datsunrobbie said:
    77ncaachamps said:
    dehnehsu said:
    Toys R Us Sunnyvale, Calif. LEGO only 5% off the already marked up price. Most other stuff only 10% off. The LEGO section was already picked thru by customers that don't seem know what a good deal is or what LEGO should cost. I saw lots of overpriced abandoned LEGO by the scanners.

    Funny thing about this "liquidation" is... prices were cheaper before!
    Liquidation sales are not designed to give customers great deals, they are designed to generate the most cash possible. Prices are often reset to higher than they were prior to the liquidation sale as a starting point. Then the signs come up, displaying markdowns based on the inflated starting price. Many customers lose their minds at 10% off, not realizing that the price is actually just MSRP. If the liquidation company is doing their job well, most inventory is gone before they have to get into truly substantial markdowns.
    I understand.

    These sales prey on the uninformed, lazy, and emotional.

    I cannot believe, in this modern age, people are not comparing with Amazon, Target, Wal Mart, or even the Lego store!
    BumblepantsSumoLego
  • JooTogJooTog Member Posts: 945
    ^ I don't get it either. Heck, Amazon's app even has a barcode reader to search for the product.

    Maybe TRU should have run 1-week long "10% liquidation sales" every quarter, they would have stay afloat then by selling most of their inventory to these people ;-)
    77ncaachampspharmjod
  • Diamondback_SixDiamondback_Six Member Posts: 491
    A little off topic, but if anybody here works at Toys R Us and wouldn't mind looking a few things up in the store computer system, could you please send me a PM? I have a few item numbers I'm trying to find information on, and my local store's staff had an attitude of "nope, not gonna help you, don't wanna, go away so I can go back to my coffee." :(
  • AstrobricksAstrobricks Member Posts: 5,563
    ^ Maybe I’m a cynic, but expecting customer service out of anyone at TRU right now seems pretty freakin’ optimistic.
    gmonkey76madforLEGO
  • Diamondback_SixDiamondback_Six Member Posts: 491
    edited March 2018
    Astrobricks said:
    ^ Maybe I’m a cynic, but expecting customer service out of anyone at TRU right now seems pretty freakin’ optimistic.

    Maybe I'm a relic of a bygone era, but I still believe in such a thing as 'professional conduct.' I give it when I'm on the clock, and expect it of others when they are in return. Then again, I'm also more polite than most customers in that 'please' and 'thank you' are still part of my vocabulary...
    pharmjodFizyxdatsunrobbiegmonkey76Muftak1LegoboyJP3804
  • 560Heliport560Heliport Member Posts: 4,254
    I'd cut the soon-to-be-unemployed workers some slack. They're probably getting a lot of crap from customers about things they can't control- "Why isn't the markdown more- you're going out of business, right?" There was a story on National Public Radio- I think it was This American Life- a few years ago, about a Circuit City store when they were going out of business. The story was mostly about the employees' experiences. It was interesting. I'm sure it's still online or something, but I'm quite the Luddite for anything computer related. I've spent my time and money over the years on LEGO, not technology!
    Fizyx
  • pharmjodpharmjod Member Posts: 2,916
    I would actually be helping every customer I could as much as possible, probably to the detriment of the rest of the job responsibilities. What are they going to do? Fire you?
    FizyxSprinkleOtter
  • alaskaguyalaskaguy Member Posts: 335
    Astrobricks said:
    ^ Maybe I’m a cynic, but expecting customer service out of anyone at TRU right now seems pretty freakin’ optimistic.
    The guy I talked to was very nice and helpful. Young guy - maybe 21, 22 at most.  I thanked him for his time and told him that I hope things work out for him.

    With his positive attitude, I bet he will be just fine.
    pharmjodFizyx
  • LegogeekLegogeek Member Posts: 714
    While it's true that 'professional conduct' is a rare commodity these days, I don't blame the employees if they aren't willing to help, or can't help, these days. Now if it was before this whole mess hit the fan, that's another issue. ;P
  • eggsheneggshen Member Posts: 602
    I have yet to see a familiar face at my local store except the actual store manager. I'm guessing they probably don't need an overnight crew anymore, so maybe I'm seeing what used to be the overnight crew, or all of the employees already found new jobs and left. Either way, it's hard to get help from people that don't know the store at all and aren't overly familiar with the computer system.
    pharmjod
  • pharmjodpharmjod Member Posts: 2,916
    I noticed that as well. Not a single person out side of management that I recognized at TRU the other day. 
    juggles7
  • scotty12scotty12 Member Posts: 851
    ^That's exactly what it looked like when the TRU closed near me in 2016.  Only faces you recognized after the 'closing' announcement was the store managers.  Everyone else working the floors didn't have any clue about anything...store related.  It wasn't exactly a toy store employee demographic you'd expect working at a TRU...mostly retirees and young men wearing gold chains, baseball caps and saggy pants down about 8 inches from their waist. 
      At the time everything that was purchased TRU would take a permanent marker and cross out the barcode so it couldn't be returned.
  • Diamondback_SixDiamondback_Six Member Posts: 491
    Mine hasn't even announced a closing, they're still acting like full-speed-ahead Business As Usual, just surlier and more unpleasant.
  • eggsheneggshen Member Posts: 602
    edited March 2018
    I popped into my local store last night, the LEGO aisles are wiped.  They condensed them down and put other stuff there (plus a bunch of empty shelves). They've lost at least 80% of their space, going from 2 very long aisles (both sides, but the inner aisles were low gondolas, the outer aisles tall gondolas) plus a 20 foot back wall plus a 12 foot section by action figures down to 2 halves of the inner aisles (low gondolas) and half of an out aisle (tall gondola). 

    I did the math quick with my 9 year old son. 10% markup on a $10 dollar item on sale for 5% off (he's a budding math whiz, I subtly push math on my kids when they aren't looking). He figured out that people are paying $10.45 for something that would be $10 anywhere else. His reply, "That's dumb!" I think summed up the type of thinking people have during sales. 
    datsunrobbie560HeliportBumblepantsSumoLegogmonkey76GoldchainsMynatt
  • datsunrobbiedatsunrobbie Member Posts: 1,830
    ^That's a liquidation company doing their job correctly. I may go tomorrow just to see if anything interesting was found in the dark back corners of the warehouse.
  • Thanos75Thanos75 Member Posts: 1,120
    I talked to my manager this morning. Several stores have had their leases pulled early by the landowner and have to have doors shut by April 15th. They have a truck that they have been loading up with things going back to distribution. American Girl and some other things. Certain Lego sets and the displays and badging are getting loaded up aswell. Was also told that they increased the Lego discount on what's remaining to 20% with it going up by 5% everyday till its gone.
    pharmjod
  • juggles7juggles7 Member Posts: 451
    TRU has shut down their website. If you go there, you'll see a message saying their online store is closed. As for all things Lego, I never noticed any sales there at their site, nor many out of stock items. My point is they seemed to have stopped shipping, despite having merchandise available. Interesting!
  • Diamondback_SixDiamondback_Six Member Posts: 491
    juggles7 said:
    TRU has shut down their website. If you go there, you'll see a message saying their online store is closed. As for all things Lego, I never noticed any sales there at their site, nor many out of stock items. My point is they seemed to have stopped shipping, despite having merchandise available. Interesting!
    Still shows as live here on the Left Coast...
    Fizyx
  • NeilJamNeilJam Member Posts: 272
    edited March 2018
    The website is still up. You can search for stuff and even put items in the cart, but you can't check out to actually submit an order.
  • FauchFauch Member Posts: 2,711
    eggshen said:
    I did the math quick with my 9 year old son. 10% markup on a $10 dollar item on sale for 5% off (he's a budding math whiz, I subtly push math on my kids when they aren't looking). He figured out that people are paying $10.45 for something that would be $10 anywhere else. His reply, "That's dumb!" I think summed up the type of thinking people have during sales. 
    and 7.30$ in some places.
  • madforLEGOmadforLEGO Member Posts: 10,836
    Thanos75 said:
    I talked to my manager this morning. Several stores have had their leases pulled early by the landowner and have to have doors shut by April 15th. They have a truck that they have been loading up with things going back to distribution. American Girl and some other things. Certain Lego sets and the displays and badging are getting loaded up aswell. Was also told that they increased the Lego discount on what's remaining to 20% with it going up by 5% everyday till its gone.
    May have to go check out my local TRUs, but it just feels like walking on someones grave.
    SprinkleOtter
  • sonsofscevasonsofsceva Member Posts: 542
    Ach! My go-to guy for knowing about everything coming out in the toy industry is a manager at my local Tru. He is the best about explaining deals and how to maximize savings and when to hold off and wait for a later sale, etc. I am sincerely going to miss him. He and one of the other floor employees are awesome. The rest were not, but those two really made it a toy specialty store.
    My hopes remain for a last second save of some of the US stores, and they get to keep their jobs there...but I won't hold my breath.
  • Thanos75Thanos75 Member Posts: 1,120
    On a bright note my local manager called and said they had some displays for me if interested....not sure who ended up with the Star Wars or Ninjago ones but I'm still happy.
    MooreFXBumblepantsFizyx
  • Ma1234Ma1234 Member Posts: 693
    edited March 2018
    Astrobricks said:
    madforLEGO said:
    datsunrobbie said:
    77ncaachamps said:
    dehnehsu said:
    Toys R Us Sunnyvale, Calif. LEGO only 5% off the already marked up price. Most other stuff only 10% off. The LEGO section was already picked thru by customers that don't seem know what a good deal is or what LEGO should cost. I saw lots of overpriced abandoned LEGO by the scanners.

    Funny thing about this "liquidation" is... prices were cheaper before!
    Liquidation sales are not designed to give customers great deals, they are designed to generate the most cash possible. Prices are often reset to higher than they were prior to the liquidation sale as a starting point. Then the signs come up, displaying markdowns based on the inflated starting price. Many customers lose their minds at 10% off, not realizing that the price is actually just MSRP. If the liquidation company is doing their job well, most inventory is gone before they have to get into truly substantial markdowns.
    I believe it is illegal to artificially raise prices before a sale; I'm presuming even for liquidations. RRP is one thing, bumping them higher than this is a no no if Im not mistaken, at least in IL
    Maybe, but who are they going to come after for it? Maybe the liquidation company if they make a habit of it, but then the liquidators will probably just blame the dead company.
    Not maybe. Totally illegal. KB Toys was infamous for it and got in trouble 
  • JBricks27JBricks27 Member Posts: 678
    is there a list of toys r us “exclusive” sets somewhere? I mean sets that you can’t find at Walmart and target and just S@H and toys r us sell?
  • juggles7juggles7 Member Posts: 451
    https://www.toysrus.com/family?categoryid=10971509&filters=Exclusive:"R Exclusive"&page=1&results=24
  • AstrobricksAstrobricks Member Posts: 5,563
    Ma1234 said:
    Astrobricks said:
    madforLEGO said:
    datsunrobbie said:
    77ncaachamps said:
    dehnehsu said:
    Toys R Us Sunnyvale, Calif. LEGO only 5% off the already marked up price. Most other stuff only 10% off. The LEGO section was already picked thru by customers that don't seem know what a good deal is or what LEGO should cost. I saw lots of overpriced abandoned LEGO by the scanners.

    Funny thing about this "liquidation" is... prices were cheaper before!
    Liquidation sales are not designed to give customers great deals, they are designed to generate the most cash possible. Prices are often reset to higher than they were prior to the liquidation sale as a starting point. Then the signs come up, displaying markdowns based on the inflated starting price. Many customers lose their minds at 10% off, not realizing that the price is actually just MSRP. If the liquidation company is doing their job well, most inventory is gone before they have to get into truly substantial markdowns.
    I believe it is illegal to artificially raise prices before a sale; I'm presuming even for liquidations. RRP is one thing, bumping them higher than this is a no no if Im not mistaken, at least in IL
    Maybe, but who are they going to come after for it? Maybe the liquidation company if they make a habit of it, but then the liquidators will probably just blame the dead company.
    Not maybe. Totally illegal. KB Toys was infamous for it and got in trouble 
    How much trouble exactly? Slap on the wrist fine?
  • juggles7juggles7 Member Posts: 451
    http://time.com/money/5224576/toys-r-us-liquidation-sales-deals/
    tomahawker
  • SumoLegoSumoLego Member Posts: 15,241
    For those wondering, only two Technic Bucket Loaders are left at the soon-to-be closed Greece, NY location.  And they're each only $25.00 off...
  • 560Heliport560Heliport Member Posts: 4,254
    But a sale is always a good deal! I'll be right there! It'll take me a while from Minnesota... :)
    Fizyx
  • Robobrick427Robobrick427 Member Posts: 8
    Thanos75 said:

    Those for free? Smoking deal. 
    77ncaachamps
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