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Amazon Has Considered Buying Some Toys ‘R’ Us Stores

bloomberg.com

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Re: Amazon Has Considered Buying Some Toys ‘R’ Us Stores

#101

Post by s73v3r_ »

opmac wrote: post #99
s73v3r_ wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Bain doesn't get off the hook here with zero losses." They make the company pay them dividends while saddling the company with their debt. "The debtors however get screwed even further... most if not all of them get absolutely nothing." And yet, they keep lending to these vultures. I have no sympathy.

> They make the company pay them dividends while saddling the company with their debt. Yes that is true. Is the sum of dividends over X years >= the amount of equity wiped out in a Chapter 7 liquidation? Impossible to say... the company is private. > They make They didn't make them do anything. They bought the company... they can do what they want as owners. That's just how this game works.

And that's not a good enough argument anymore. They did force this upon the company, and they are feeling absolutely none of the consequences of their decision.

Re: Amazon Has Considered Buying Some Toys ‘R’ Us Stores

#102

Post by s73v3r_ »

ikeboy wrote: post #73
jobu wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I personally believe Toys R Us just missed an opportunity to run a proper business. Toys R Us has been struggling to pay off $6 billion in debt from the Bain Capital takeover in 2005. They didn't have the capital or the margins to invest in maintaining their stores, let alone competing with Amazon. Buying a company with debt and then forcing that company to pay off that debt is fairly common, but for some reason it…

It's not mom and pop lenders that put up 6 billion. It's grownups that have a contract with a specific set of things/entities they can collect from. Don't waste tears over them.

Nobody cares about the banks. But the banks are going after Toys R Us (and other targets of the parasitic buyouts) because that's their only recourse, and they are costing plenty of innocent people their jobs. I feel things would be different if they could go directly after Bain et al.

Re: Amazon Has Considered Buying Some Toys ‘R’ Us Stores

#103

Post by s73v3r_ »

km3k wrote: post #94
freehunter wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The number of times I was working on an electronics product and went to Radio Shack to try to find a quick replacement for the resistor or motor I just fried is crazy... and the crazier part is they never once had the part I needed yet I kept coming back because it's the only store I could think of that might have it. Arduino and Rapsberry Pi should have been their saving grace. Not cheap RC cars.

I agree, but they were out of the parts business well before Arduino and Raspberry Pi were a thing. The last Radio Shack in my area that stocked resistors closed in 2006. There's none near me now, but since ~2000 they'd been mostly phone stores that also carried the occasional batteries and cables.

They had gotten kinda back into the parts business within the last ~5 years or so? At least the ones near me did. They were starting to embrace the maker movement, and was at least dedicating some space to them.

Re: Amazon Has Considered Buying Some Toys ‘R’ Us Stores

#104

Post by ikeboy »

s73v3r_ wrote: post #102
ikeboy wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not mom and pop lenders that put up 6 billion. It's grownups that have a contract with a specific set of things/entities they can collect from. Don't waste tears over them.

Nobody cares about the banks. But the banks are going after Toys R Us (and other targets of the parasitic buyouts) because that's their only recourse, and they are costing plenty of innocent people their jobs. I feel things would be different if they could go directly after Bain et al.

Yeah no. If the stores were worth keeping open without the debt, then the bankruptcy court would keep them open. They lost money in each of the last 4 years, without as much of a debt load maybe they'd have broken even or a small profit, but not enough to justify the existence of the company.

Re: Amazon Has Considered Buying Some Toys ‘R’ Us Stores

#105

Post by opmac »

s73v3r_ wrote: post #101
opmac wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They make the company pay them dividends while saddling the company with their debt. Yes that is true. Is the sum of dividends over X years >= the amount of equity wiped out in a Chapter 7 liquidation? Impossible to say... the company is private. > They make They didn't make them do anything. They bought the company... they can do what they want as owners. That's just how this game works.

And that's not a good enough argument anymore. They did force this upon the company, and they are feeling absolutely none of the consequences of their decision.

> they are feeling absolutely none of the consequences of their decision

Man I wish I knew the fine details of the books of a multi-billion dollar private equity firm like you do.

Re: Amazon Has Considered Buying Some Toys ‘R’ Us Stores

#106

Post by mc32 »

__abc wrote: post #44
mc32 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are. I've been to one. Not a bad store at all. Resurrecting a highly nostalgic brand may be a viable option, if Amazon has some trick up their sleeves. The one thing they can't fix is low birth rates though, so it would have to transform the stores a bit.

Whole Foods me. As a parent, put a craft beer/craft coffee in my hand (mark that up too, I'll pay) and give my kids and myself an experience, more than just a static display. Blicks, a store for art supplies has done this with wine nights, painting lessons (with wine), etc. Ignoring all the damn alcohol, it's brands that will compete by creating an experience that may stand a chance (IMO)

Maybe if they combined it with some maker stuff --however, I think perhaps the maker stuff has a too limited audience. And besides, their locations do not lend themselves much to drop-ins. Like, while I'm at it buying something at [some place] I'll drop in at Toys R Us. They tend to be in out of the way locations.

Re: Amazon Has Considered Buying Some Toys ‘R’ Us Stores

#107

Post by acct1771 »

vinhboy wrote: post #11

I think Amazon should do it. I personally believe Toys R Us just missed an opportunity to run a proper business. They have a ton of retail space, but every time I've been there, it's run like Walmart. Shit everywhere, no one to help you find anything, etc... There's nothing suburban parents like me want more than an indoor play space for my kid (for extremely hot or cold days). If they properly utilized their store a…

Since nobody else thought it appropriate to mention, I'll bite the bullet: the person you're imagining being playful with the toys to see which one your kid likes has historically been you.

Re: Amazon Has Considered Buying Some Toys ‘R’ Us Stores

#108

Post by s73v3r_ »

ikeboy wrote: post #104
s73v3r_ wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody cares about the banks. But the banks are going after Toys R Us (and other targets of the parasitic buyouts) because that's their only recourse, and they are costing plenty of innocent people their jobs. I feel things would be different if they could go directly after Bain et al.

Yeah no. If the stores were worth keeping open without the debt, then the bankruptcy court would keep them open. They lost money in each of the last 4 years, without as much of a debt load maybe they'd have broken even or a small profit, but not enough to justify the existence of the company.

You're falling into the trap of assuming that the market is perfect, and that there's someone wanting to take over the stores.

Face it, the only reason they were in trouble, and the only reason this bankruptcy is happening, is because of the parasitic capital firms involved.

Re: Amazon Has Considered Buying Some Toys ‘R’ Us Stores

#109

Post by ikeboy »

s73v3r_ wrote: post #108
ikeboy wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah no. If the stores were worth keeping open without the debt, then the bankruptcy court would keep them open. They lost money in each of the last 4 years, without as much of a debt load maybe they'd have broken even or a small profit, but not enough to justify the existence of the company.

You're falling into the trap of assuming that the market is perfect, and that there's someone wanting to take over the stores. Face it, the only reason they were in trouble, and the only reason this bankruptcy is happening, is because of the parasitic capital firms involved.

You can do the math, it's not that hard.

Toys r US's numbers were significantly below where they'd need to be at to survive. It's unclear why you think we should infringe on banks ability to decide who to lend money to and what collateral to require.

Re: Amazon Has Considered Buying Some Toys ‘R’ Us Stores

#110

Post by xapata »

unpwn wrote: post #36
xapata wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Amazon sells it cheaper, they could act somewhat as an Amazon affiliate. Or at least buy from Amazon instead of their more expensive suppliers.

Probably amazon buys it from the same supplier, but they can sell it for less margin, because they don't have the overhead of running a store, and they have the scale of being amazon.

> sells it cheaper than they can buy from the suppliers

Perhaps they miswrote, but the comment says that Amazon is cheaper than the supplier.

It's somewhat common for a large manufacturer to accidentally undercut themselves. For example, one branch selling to Walmart and another selling direct to restaurants. Sometimes the price at Walmart, even after Walmart's margin, is cheaper than the direct price. The restaurant-sales group is horrified as they lose customers to Walmart and goes running down the hall to tell the bigbox-sales group to raise prices.

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