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Toys ‘R’ Us Plans Bankruptcy Filing Amid Debt Struggle

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Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Plans Bankruptcy Filing Amid Debt Struggle

#181

Post by lostapathy »

tyingq wrote: post #172
Pxtl wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the place brick and mortar seems to do well is where the store adds value over just selling merch. You go to Home Depot for expertise as much as for parts. You go to a local boardgame store for recommendations and events. You go to a toy store to get your hands on them and leverage staff expertise and curated inventory. The only big problem with this approach is showrooming. Toys r us or best buy carry bad pr…

There's a lot here I agree with, but... >You go to Home Depot for expertise as much as for parts Has not been my experience. Ace hardware is a little better, but not much. I suppose sometimes they get lucky and a knowledgeable retiree is willing to work for those wages.

Ace Hardware is a cooperative, not a chain, or even a franchise system. As such they vary a lot, and it seems on average they are getting worse.

We used to have a really good Ace chain around here, with a proper hardware section and quality tools. They now only stock super common hardware, not the stuff I'd go to a specialty store for, and a lot of really garbage tools.

And they certainly don't have any experts anymore. you're lucky if somebody's working who knows how to run the key machine (which also no longer requires any skill)

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Plans Bankruptcy Filing Amid Debt Struggle

#182

Post by TheCondor »

minikomi wrote: post #158
atourgates wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Toy stores are a _great_ example of opportunity for brick and mortar. Just like book stores, they operate in a space where curation, discovery and the physical experience adds real value. The town I grew up in has a great independent toy store, and I make it a point to shop there every time we're in town. Every time I find something unique that I would have never looked for on Amazon, and often I'm hooked by the tact…

Absolutely. My local bike shop[0] does this amazingly - holding rides, in-store events, very friendly and knowledgable mechanics, lots of in-house produced merch and encourages a culture of customizing and sharing bikes between customers. They do a lot of online work too, with an amazing series of instagram accounts. [0] http://bluelug.com/

Bike shops play by different rules. The industry and vendors collaborate to block big stores. You cant get a Colnago or pinarelo or any top end bike at Walmart or web Walmart (amazon) you have to go to a bike shop and said shop is expected to perform certain services as you buy that bike. They fit it, they assemble it properly, usually tune it after a few rides, etc. the wholesale price has a price cooked in for assembly and those services. There are industry groups that aggressively police it. The small shops are, in essence, representatives for the vendors. There are also agreements that strongly control what's on the floor, a Specialized shop very rarely has Cervelo, BMC, or Trek bikes too, some might but generally the vendors don't allow it.

It changes periodically, Giant, Specialized and Trek are big enough that they are doing their own stores and performance shops and not relying on small dealers as much. It's also different from many other things in that a misassembled bike can result in death. The industry as a whole supports bike shops though

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Plans Bankruptcy Filing Amid Debt Struggle

#183

Post by lostapathy »

thefalcon wrote: post #84
rb808 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Every time I find something unique that I would have never looked for on Amazon, and often I'm hooked by the tactile act of playing with something that couldn't be fully replicated online. You're absolutely right. The result usually is though that the kid finds a toy they like then puts in on their Birthday/Christmas wishlist from where the Santa buys from Amazon. I like to think I never do this, but if the price is…

It's possible to enforce MAP pricing (minimum advertised price) online that matches in-store prices, but if you're a small player you'll lose out on the business of some of the larger buyers who are used to getting their way, and then you run the risk of getting yourself put out of business by trying to help out the little guys.

MAP is really hard to enforce, in practice.

When your largest reseller is even 1-2% under MAP you you really can't do anything about it. Especially if they are over half your income - it's a game of chicken that isn't worth playing.

MAP really only works when your resellers are fairly diverse and fairly even-sized. But if that were the case, we wouldn't have online behemoths undercutting everyone else in the first place.

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Plans Bankruptcy Filing Amid Debt Struggle

#184

Post by lostapathy »

freehunter wrote: post #150
ringaroundthetx wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon provides salaried jobs at their regional warehouses, and revenue to the resellers, and revenue to affiliates. Perhaps the only thing missing is a way to sort results on Amazon by locale.

Amazon may be local to my state but the small toy store is local to my _city_. The warehouse four hours away means less to me than someone who pays taxes in my city and lives two miles away.

If there were an Amazon warehouse nearby would that change things for you?

I live about 2 miles from both amazon and jet warehouses, and that doesn't make it feel any more like a local business.

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Plans Bankruptcy Filing Amid Debt Struggle

#185

Post by jimmaswell »

ringaroundthetx wrote: post #74
rb808 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Every time I find something unique that I would have never looked for on Amazon, and often I'm hooked by the tactile act of playing with something that couldn't be fully replicated online. You're absolutely right. The result usually is though that the kid finds a toy they like then puts in on their Birthday/Christmas wishlist from where the Santa buys from Amazon. I like to think I never do this, but if the price is…

> I like to think I never do this, but if the price is much higher even I have a limit. Really? You rationalize going to a brick and mortar international franchise simply because it is physical, instead of going to an online international franchise? Thats the biggest stretch of "buy local" that I've ever been exposed to.

A slight price increase can be more than worth getting an item immediately instead of waiting for it to ship, while 1 to same day delivery would be generally much more expensive.

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Plans Bankruptcy Filing Amid Debt Struggle

#186

Post by jimmaswell »

wolverine876 wrote: post #167
bllguo wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there non-cynical explanations of how someone with such a terrible track record gets hired? Maybe a dearth of alternative CEOs? Or is the reality as bad as it appears?

Dave Brandon had an exceptional track record and the business community thought so, maybe still does for all I know. He was just disliked by a popular (in the University of Michigan community) sports blogger. See my post below.

What possible explanation is there for this post if he had an "exceptional track record"? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15280485

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Plans Bankruptcy Filing Amid Debt Struggle

#187

Post by alsetmusic »

Pxtl wrote: post #156
atourgates wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Toy stores are a _great_ example of opportunity for brick and mortar. Just like book stores, they operate in a space where curation, discovery and the physical experience adds real value. The town I grew up in has a great independent toy store, and I make it a point to shop there every time we're in town. Every time I find something unique that I would have never looked for on Amazon, and often I'm hooked by the tact…

I think the place brick and mortar seems to do well is where the store adds value over just selling merch. You go to Home Depot for expertise as much as for parts. You go to a local boardgame store for recommendations and events. You go to a toy store to get your hands on them and leverage staff expertise and curated inventory. The only big problem with this approach is showrooming. Toys r us or best buy carry bad pr…

> Toys r us or best buy carry bad products and are staffed by the lowest bidder. They offer no value over Amazon, so Amazon makes them worthless.

I would think that instant gratification is of high value when shopping for toys with a child.

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Plans Bankruptcy Filing Amid Debt Struggle

#188

Post by linkregister »

SilasX wrote: post #110
atourgates wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Toy stores are a _great_ example of opportunity for brick and mortar. Just like book stores, they operate in a space where curation, discovery and the physical experience adds real value. The town I grew up in has a great independent toy store, and I make it a point to shop there every time we're in town. Every time I find something unique that I would have never looked for on Amazon, and often I'm hooked by the tact…

>Toy stores are a _great_ example of opportunity for brick and mortar. Just like book stores, they operate in a space where curation, discovery and the physical experience adds real value. Not anymore. Customers just use them as a free showroom and then buy it cheaper off Amazon.

No way. The high-quality wooden hand-crafted toys at good mom & pop toy stores are not available on Amazon. Discoverability of good intellectually stimulating toys is similarly poor on Amazon.

You also overestimate the delta between the Amazon price (if the product is carried by Amazon) and that of the brick & mortar price. Often the brick & mortar price is identical after shipping costs.

The competitive advantage of a good mom & pop toy store is a specialized, curated selection of unique merchandise.

Perhaps Etsy can compete in this category, but I am in doubt that Amazon is there yet.

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Plans Bankruptcy Filing Amid Debt Struggle

#189

Post by flachsechs »

tyingq wrote: post #172
Pxtl wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the place brick and mortar seems to do well is where the store adds value over just selling merch. You go to Home Depot for expertise as much as for parts. You go to a local boardgame store for recommendations and events. You go to a toy store to get your hands on them and leverage staff expertise and curated inventory. The only big problem with this approach is showrooming. Toys r us or best buy carry bad pr…

There's a lot here I agree with, but... >You go to Home Depot for expertise as much as for parts Has not been my experience. Ace hardware is a little better, but not much. I suppose sometimes they get lucky and a knowledgeable retiree is willing to work for those wages.

for what it's worth, OSH seems to be the happy medium for me.

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Plans Bankruptcy Filing Amid Debt Struggle

#190

Post by jimmaswell »

heurist wrote: post #163
agumonkey wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're a bit too cynical even though the subject is interesting. Childhood is full of crap that is magical to the eyes of kids. I wished I and others had clearer, cleaner and more serious things to grow and learn; but in a way I'm not sure it's neither both possible nor worth it. And similarly the notion of "place" is melting in this era. No more music shop, useless, you can buy a Trillion things on whatever. Same fo…

Local will re-emerge with tighter communities. Suburbs are unsustainable wastes and we'll have to adapt by reforming walkable cities. Kids will have tons to explore at that point, like they used to. AR/VR will enable more spatially interactive technologies as well. Pokemon Go was a fad but I think it heralds a yet-to-come wave.

>Local will re-emerge with tighter communities. Suburbs are unsustainable wastes and we'll have to adapt by reforming walkable cities. Kids will have tons to explore at that point, like they used to.

The suburb hate bandwagon on here has gotten way out of hand. They are not inherently unsustainable and it is not a "waste" to spend a bit more resources to make a space that's nicer to live in. Not everybody wants to have to walk everywhere/take public transit and live like a sardine in a can getting accosted for spare change all day. And are you saying you'd really let a kid "explore" in a city? You're not even particularly safe in a "walkable city" as a lone adult if you go down the wrong street or you're not paying attention.

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