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Toys ‘R’ Us Plans Bankruptcy Filing Amid Debt Struggle

bloomberg.com

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

#271

Post by heurist »

jimmaswell wrote: post #266
heurist wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can form that argument more convincingly than Jane Jacobs I'll give it more thought. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_and_Life_of_Great_Am...

A lot of people simply dislike density beyond the density found in small towns and suburbs and are willing to pay a bit of a premium for that living condition. The author even "admits that the ideas of the Garden City and the Decentrists made sense on their own terms: a suburban town appealing to privacy-oriented, automobile-loving personalities should tout its green space and low-density housing. [Their] anti-orthod…

Really recommend reading the book as she addresses all of that in depth.

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

#272

Post by falsedan »

wolverine876 wrote: post #268
falsedan wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But more important to the University of Michigan than winning a children's game played with a ball, Rude.

I very much enjoy watching football, and might have seen over 100 Michigan football games. But it's a game; the welfare and education of the students playing it are real life.

I agree that sporting prowess is fleeting & a good education will set someone up for life, but I think infantilising football is rude and uncalled for.

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

#273

Post by falsedan »

linkregister wrote: post #263
falsedan wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dare you to try telling a 3-year-old who's winding up a tantrum because they want the airsoft pistol from the other aisle that they have to wait 3 days for the sensible age-appropriate & mentally-stimulating toy to arrive.

You raise a good point. Availability is a huge advantage, especially for last-minute gift purchases. I haven't seen the good toys that I'm looking for on Amazon; I have seen them on Etsy. On a tangential matter, I disagree with avoiding opportunities for teaching children delayed gratification in such a high impact way. Think about it this way: every time you rightfully don't give your child something they want due t…

> On a tangential matter, I disagree with avoiding opportunities for teaching children delayed gratification in such a high impact way.

My comment on 2-3 days? That’s too long for a child to make the connection between behaviour and outcome. I love delayed gratification and would ask that we wait to play with the new toy until after we get home, eat, tidy up, etc. I hope that they make the link between waiting, being praised for doing a good job with something else, then playing.

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

#274

Post by linsomniac »

BeetleB wrote: post #210
linsomniac wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Expertise at a Home Depot can be problematic. Sometimes you get someone who really knows what they are talking about. Sometimes you get someone who doesn't, but is speaking with authority anyway. A friend recently told me about a time he sent his wife in to Home Depot with a list of things to get, and she came home with a different set of things that an employee recommended. My friend went back there to raise a stink…

FWIW, my friend is a plumber and he thinks Sharkbite is one of the best things that happened to plumbing. Of course he didn't use it for every job because the cost isn't always justified. I suck at plumbing. For people like me who do the occasional repair around the house, Sharkbite is a godsend.

... until it isn't. I'm just finishing up a kitchen/dining room remodel due to water damage, so I'm probably gun shy here. :-)

(clarification: Unrelated to sharkbite, but I appreciate the damage water can cause)

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

#275

Post by chrisbennet »

KKKKkkkk1 wrote: post #197
product50 wrote: post #39

Though this may have something to do with Amazon (and retail generally trending online), it does appear that the big culprit here were Bain Capital (and its partners) who took it private in 2005 via leverage buyout and ladened Toys r Us balance sheet with untenable debt from thereon. Apparently, they were paying $500M in interests alone per year vs. reinvesting capital in growth of their offline stores or online reta…

Yeah, so Bain made a bad decision when they bought Toys `R' Us and took on a lot of debt right at the moment when Amazon was about to enter the business. Now they lost their investment. Why do I get the sense that Bain is being cast as a villain in this story?

Bain didn't take on the debt, Toys R Us did. Here's how the Bain play book works:

- Buy company's and strip them and lay off workers

- saddle company with massive dept (leveraged buyout)

- extract large fees

- sell company at profit

Later, the company, weaked by dept often goes bankrupt.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/mitt-romney-bain...

"Here’s how a private equity fund such as Bain Capital works: It picks a successful company and then takes it over with a leveraged buyout (LBO). The money borrowed from a bank to pay off the owner or stockholders does not become the debt of Bain Capital. It becomes the debt of the company that was taken over." https://sandiegofreepress.org/2012/07/how-mitt-romney-drove-...

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

#276

Post by Naritai »

icebraining wrote: post #224
Naritai wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP is talking about a small toy store, but regardless - an international franchise that has a location in your home town employs people from your home town, whereas Amazon (for the sake of argument in this case) does not. That's the core argument of 'buy local'.

Pretty sure the person who delivers my packages doesn't live in another country.

A tiny fraction of the alternate, yes. Though of course much of the logistics planning an operations is easily outsourced.
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